


The Ache Of Unanswered Hope

by outislanders



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-02-29 00:58:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18767929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/outislanders/pseuds/outislanders
Summary: Kara, a Sergeant on leave from the U.S. Army, decides to find the woman she believes saved her life; using a worn photograph she found on her recent tour of the Middle East. When Kara’s path leads her back to the town where she had grown up, she is left to question both herself and her ever certain plans for the future.Lena, a young, widowed, new mother, is navigating life in a somewhat new town, in the shadow of her partner’s death in the most horrific of circumstances. A chance meeting leaves Lena wondering if she is able to love again, and whether she can allow herself to battle her own past full of loss for a future that prioritises her daughter’s happiness, and maybe even her own.





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> I have watched too many movies based on Nicholas Sparks’ books, and as always, there’s no LGBTQ+ representation. My favourite movies were The Lucky One, Safe Haven and Dear John (I’ve always loved the idea that letters sort of started it all in that movie), and they’re always terribly cheesy and feature this _ideal_ and _traditional_ romance which I’m hoping to shift a lot. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys like this first chapter, it’s a little short, but sort of an introduction to everything! It took me way longer to choose a title than I care to admit but here we are!!
> 
> Also this may or may not end up ridiculously painful somewhere down the line.

               Kara turned the small square photograph in her hands, spinning it between her fingers as she sat on a hard-plastic chair and waited for the bus to take her to Midvale, her fingers slowing at the tear on the right-hand side of the picture. It had been weeks since she arrived back to the United States, desperate to go home, but wary all the same. The blonde woman had taken the longest train and bus routes that she could find before heading home, all with the aim of lengthening her journey. In her mind, Kara convinced herself that everything she was doing was on a whim, not prolonging the inevitable. She had thought that she probably travelled at most, sixty miles a day, and since she had decided to travel to New York after she had broken up with Mike, her journey had taken her through almost all of the states imaginable.

               There were times when she had stayed in one small town for a matter of hours, walking around and taking photos with the small Leica she always kept at her side. It was a sort of constant in the blonde woman’s life, and it fit perfectly into the front pouch of her backpack. Some days, if time allowed, she would visit certain places in the early morning and late evening to see how the light had changed the surroundings completely. Her favourite places to do this was when it involved a long walk to some type of hill high enough so that she could see everything below, and there was a feeling of comfort in being able to see so many people and lives pass by whilst being somewhat separate from it all. Kara had managed to gather four memory cards full of photos, promising herself she would sort through them at some point, and edit them if the colours weren’t clear enough. She personally favoured cameras that relied on film. The notion that an image had a permanence, that whether a photo was in focus or not would only be seen once they had entered a dark room was almost cathartic. However, constantly being on the move had made her wary of the damage that might occur to the photos she would have taken. Another promise to herself, once she was completely settled, buy another Leica that relied solely on film.

               The blonde woman’s favourite town she had stopped in was on the coast of North Carolina, around thirty miles south of Wilmington was a town called Southport. It seemed quiet and steeped in the past, and she surmised a few thousand at most must have lived there. Huge magnolia trees spread throughout the town, their roots fighting to reclaim their own territory against the pavements that had been added long after the trees had grown tall, causing cracks to form like veins throughout the concrete. Southport featured mainly single-storey red-bricked buildings, with short lampposts that had hanging baskets filled with multicoloured pansies, and there was only one intersection in the main square that had traffic lights. Kara had spent five days in the small town, wandering around the beaches, and staying in a run-down motel she hated. The room was sparse to say the least, it had a double bed, a single chair in the corner and a wooden desk, with another matching chair, and the curtains didn’t filter out any of the streetlights or the sign outside that all seemed to villainously flicker at varying intensities once the sun had disappeared. It was fine for her alone, and it was impeccably clean, but the way it looked reminded her of one of the horror movies she would watch with her sister, Alex, _American Psycho_. A day at most would’ve allowed her to see what the whole of Southport had to offer; a marina docked with a few local fishing boats, a small downtown, albeit with fantastic food, and its beaches with some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets she had ever seen. Kara liked the quiet for once more than anything, which gave her mind time to fully understand the events that had led her to that moment. Six months prior, she had still been on tour in Afghanistan, one of the small number of troops who were still deployed in the country, and now she was wandering aimlessly buying bus tickets for the earliest departure wherever it would take her; like a vagabond, and Kara began to truly understand why young people loved to travel before their lives really begun. To an extent, Kara’s life was changing in its own way, her next tour would be her last, and she would need to spend some time thinking about the next chapter and ultimately, where life would take her. She hadn’t given much thought to the future, she always knew she wanted to have a family; a husband and children to come home to everyday but apart from that, everything else in between seemed grey.

               Since leaving National City, she hadn’t voluntarily spent time with anyone. Kara hadn’t called her sister, Alex, or her adoptive mother, Eliza. It was quiet, she was oddly quiet. She had called them when she landed in New York to tell them she was home and that she was safe, but she surmised that the time spent alone would be good for her. Kara decided against telling them that she had already been within their vicinity, prior to her arrival in New York, and she didn’t tell them about Mike either. Although she knew she would have received support from them both regardless, and an _“I told you so”_ from Alex, and more than likely a request to beat him up, as her older sister wasn’t his biggest fan. They worried about her, of course they did, they were her family after all. When Kara had disconnected the phone calls to them, she would think that she wasn’t being fair to them. She had been gone most of the past five years, and before each of her deployments, which were currently at a total of three, she listened to them tell her to be careful, to not do anything stupid. She hadn’t, of course, but there had been a few close calls, which Kara often avoided telling them, as she didn’t want to worry them, if it wasn’t anything _too_ serious. Both women always listened to the news, and Eliza would often read the papers, sometimes expecting to see Kara’s name in one of the articles, but if anything major were to happen, Alex, being part of the DEO would already know beforehand.

               When Kara had finally returned to National City, to go to Midvale, it was exactly how she had remembered it, even though it wasn’t as if she had been gone for years, but she herself, felt a little different after being alone for so long. The city was bustling with people whose minds were too preoccupied with work and their daily errands, and the smell from that left the exhausts of the cars seemed to burn her nose in a way she didn’t expect. It was as if her outlook had been changed slightly, and now, her focus shifted to finding the woman in the photograph she had tightly clung to and to finally thank the stranger she owed her life to.

 

\---

 

               _After her tour, when Kara had first arrived in the United States, Mike was anticipating her arrival, or, that’s what she told herself.  When she had left Afghanistan, the plane had taken her through Beijing before eventually arriving in National City. It was a long, uncomfortable flight and it had been a terribly long few months. She had been through a difficult tour, and it was for everyone involved, specifically the last few months, made worse when Kara and other members of her team had been hospitalised after an ambush at the time they were preparing to head home and reunite with their families and loved ones. Kara had been offered an honourable discharge but fought her superiors to finish her military career in a proper manner, citing the need to make her birth parents proud, to her, she owed them that much. She hadn’t heard from her boyfriend, who had been her emergency contact, and ultimately, the person she had thought that she loved, and who loved her. Kara knew Mike would be unable to visit, as she was in one of the hospitals that was located on the military base, but a call or some form of contact was something she needed from him more than she would allow herself to acknowledge._ It wasn’t too bad _, Kara had told herself to begin with,_ you’re still alive _, the nightmares that haunted her each time she closed her eyes, and the scar on the side of her body didn’t matter,_ he’s busy, he can’t postpone his own life for you _, another excuse she had created for Mike._

               _There was no one to collect her from the airport, so dragging her bags with her, she waited outside at the taxi rank, allowing the frigid air of a late winter to settle into her skin that had become tanned and dependent on the warmer climate during her tour. Once she had paid the driver and stepped out of the yellow taxi that seemed to linger with the scent of worn leather and other passengers, who had been in the taxi long before her, she was finally home. As she looked up from the other side of the pavement, the familiar red brick of her apartment building with its huge windows was a welcome sight._

               _After deciding to take the stairs to her apartment, she unlocked the door and called out for Mike, who she knew wouldn’t be working, as his shifts at the bar were usually later in the night. He appeared wearing a sheepish grin and avoided looking at the blonde woman directly, and instantly, Kara_ knew _. The apartment was surprisingly clean, another indication to support Kara’s thought, there was a faint scent of a woman’s perfume that fell into step as he walked towards her, and it wasn’t Kara’s. It took the blonde woman a matter of seconds to understand the reasons she had been alone, why he hadn’t contacted her after receiving a call about her, why she had needed to take a taxi home instead of being greeted by the person she loved like every other person who had left the arrivals hall – Mike had been cheating on her._

               _“Who is she?” Kara asked, backing away from Mike who had been going to hug her, leaving his arms temporarily suspended in the air._

               _Mike retracted his hands and kept them tightly fastened to his side, “What are you talking about?”_

               _Kara met his confused gaze, “I’m not stupid – who is she?”_

               _Mike sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as his face flushed a light shade of pink, “I- it was a one-time thing, I promise-”_

               _A small voice in the back of Kara’s mind had told her that she was maybe reading too much into the situation, but the words of the man in front of her confirmed everything, “I knew it!”_

               _The brunette man’s brow furrowed, “What?”_

               _“You haven’t been in touch for months; do you have any idea what has happened to me? What I’ve been through-” tears started to form in the blonde woman’s eyes and she angrily wiped away a tear that had escaped._

               _Mike bared his teeth, looking like an animal ready to pounce, “yeah, because it’s all about you, isn’t it?”_

               _“We’re in a relationship, you should actually care about me – like I care about you!”_

               _“I didn’t do anything wrong, Kara. You’re not as high and mighty as you think. Just because you’re in the military, it doesn’t mean you’re better than me.”_

               _“You never listen to me, Mike! That’s not what this is about, and I’ve never suggested that once!” Kara exclaimed, her voice rising on every word she spoke._

               _Mike scoffed, “What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? That it’s my fault you were away for months?”_

               _“You slept with another woman whilst I was away working! The truck went over a mine whilst I was on tour, did you know that?” The blonde woman inhaled a sharp breath, the events of the ambush threatening to replay themselves in her mind._

               _“There’s always a mine, Kara!” Kara’s eyes widened, and regardless of the call she knew he received, for a moment, she was slightly stunned at Mike’s words and lack of concern for any of the people that were practically her family, let alone herself, and despite that, he continued, “You were away, what do you think I was supposed to do?”_

               _Kara forcefully shut her eyes, and took a deep breath before opening them again, she could feel the simmering in her stomach about to boil over, “You’ve got a hand, haven’t you?!”_

               _Mike’s mouth fell open and quickly shut with an audible snap, “Fuck you,”_

               _Kara’s voice continued to rise, “how about you get out of_ my _apartment?!”_

               _He ran a hand through his short chestnut coloured hair, purposely softening the tone of his voice, “Kara, you’re frigid, it’s as if you don’t even like to have sex with me. When was the last time we actually-”_

               _Kara ignored his insult and the burning desire to slap him, “Maybe if it lasted for longer than three minutes, and that’s me being generous!” She sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose, “You don’t care, Mike. You never have.”_

               _“I do care, I love-” Mike was silenced by the swift raise of Kara’s hand._

               _There was a calm tone to the blonde woman’s voice, as if already accepting the inevitable, and her eyes met Mike’s confused gaze, “if you finish that sentence, that would be the first time you would’ve said it.”_

               _“Th- then what do you want from me?” There was a pathetic desperation to Mike’s voice that made Kara wince._

               _“I want you to leave,” Kara fiddled with her glasses, and pushed them back up, “we’ve fell into this pattern because it’s comfortable, and familiar. I don’t know about you, but I want more.”_

               _“Maybe you don’t deserve more.” The venomous words that left Mike’s mouth had passed their intended target, as Kara’s face remained unchanged._

               _“I do, Mike.” The blonde woman nodded to herself, “I deserve better and I deserve more than you.” Kara collected Mike’s black denim jacket from the kitchen chair it was draped over and forced it into his hands. It wasn’t until now that she realised how much she hated the look of that jacket that he always wore._

               _“Fine. Go ahead and be by yourself. No one will ever love you again,” Mike spat. Kara used to believe that the blue of his eyes was like water amongst flames, necessary, and a point of safety, that the faint hazel that could be found throughout managed to resemble everything that Kara loved of the outdoors; that Mike’s eyes were their own forests and ecosystem, pure nature alone. However, now she realised they were glaciers – cold, knowing no warmth and sharing no love whatsoever._

               You didn’t love me anyway, _she thought. “Get. Out.” Once Kara had said those words the look on Mike’s face was enough, and there was a freeing feeling in the pit of Kara’s stomach. When the front door slammed shut, the sound of the metal rang through the apartment, and the blonde woman inhaled a sharp breath, as her mind tried to focus its disjointed thoughts on what to do next._

               _It had taken the last bit of Kara’s strength to finally breakup with Mike, and restrain herself from slapping him across the face, she knew it would be for the better, but it still hurt. Her eyes burned red from more unexpected tears and her throat was sore from the screaming, and if she were to talk to anyone else, she knew the sound of her voice would be hoarse and her words difficult to understand. After packing his things into boxes and sending them to his mother’s house on the same day she had arrived, the thought of staying in her own apartment after Mike had been sleeping with another woman in_ her _apartment, and in_ her _bed, was sickening. So, Kara decided to do the only thing she could think of – she left. She booked a last-minute plane ticket to New York, that departed just soon enough that she didn’t need to unpack her bags, and her solitary journey on the Greyhound buses began._

 

\---

 

               Kara shook her head in a feeble attempt to clear her memories from her mind. Breaking up with Mike didn’t hurt as much as it should have, it was painfully raw at first, and the fear and realisation of being alone was overwhelming. However, the time that Kara had spent alone was like reacquainting with a new friend, and the pain lessened, besides, the blonde woman had so many more problems and memories to deal with. She placed the photo of the woman back into the pocket of her jeans where she had always kept it since finding it, although, it had been kept in her front breast pocket whilst in uniform, along with a photo of her family.

               She glanced at the small watch on her wrist. There was no legitimate reason why she was already waiting for a bus that wasn’t due for another hour. In the military, timekeeping was always important – you couldn’t be late because, in the most literal sense, it was always a matter of life and death. Her superior usually hated her being early when she was a Private, citing the need to be on time, not early or late, but here she was, falling back into her old habits.

               Kara walked to the small bar on the corner of the street outside of the bus station. It was a little dark inside, despite the early time and natural light outside, and the décor was something more akin to a British pub. The smell of alcohol was already intoxicating enough, and the place seemed to linger with nicotine, but for once, the blonde woman didn’t mind. She sat on one of the round wooden bar stools, adorned with a dark worn leather cushion, and rested her arms onto the light wooden counter. Kara wouldn’t admit how tired she felt, but she was completely and utterly exhausted. There’s a difference between the type of tired where a person would need to rest, sleep, and maybe eat a little better, and the tired where a person needed so much more, and the latter was what Kara silently desired and how she felt, although she didn’t know what _more_ constituted as.

               “You want a drink, Miss?”

               Kara nodded, “Just a Diet Coke, please,” she rested her chin on her hand, “with vodka, _please_.”

               When the bartender returned with her drink, he placed it on the counter in front of her, with a thin lemon slice balancing above the cubes of ice. “On the house, anything for a fellow veteran – I saw your patch on your bag when you came in,” he paused, “I was in the Marine Corps.”

               Kara smiled and took a small sip from the glass, realising he had put a heavy amount of the clear spirit into the drink, but today she was grateful for it. “Thank you.”

               The young man stood cleaning one of the glasses, he looked too young to have already become a veteran, and Kara surmised he must have left on his own volition or something worse must have happened. “So, did you just get out or-”

               “I’m on leave at the moment – I’m heading home.” She responded, with a tone suggesting it was something she didn’t want to be doing.

               “It’s nice to be home,” he smiled, and Kara noticed the look on his face that almost all veterans seemed to carry – that their eyes have seen something they shouldn’t have, and for a moment, she wondered if hers already looked the same. “I hope you’ll enjoy yourself.”

               “I hope so, too,” following a small smile, the bartender left, and Kara’s attention returned to the drink in front of her, and she coughed slightly at the fiery path the alcohol burned down her throat.

               At some point, her head had slid from her hand and jolted upwards from her drink, allowing her to know she had fallen asleep. Kara’s eyes grew wide as she surveyed her surroundings, looking for a new type of danger, or something out of the ordinary, but her slight confusion to her surroundings was only temporary. She remembered she was in a bar in National City near the bus terminal, and on her way home to Midvale, not her red-bricked apartment building, not Mike – home, in the most basic understanding of the word, where Kara Danvers had truly begun.

               After finishing the drink, and another, the blonde woman began to feel slightly tipsy, she hadn’t drunk any type of alcohol for months, and yet the slight dizziness when she would turn her head to look around the bar was welcome. She glanced back at her watch, frowning at the small lines that stood for numbers. The bartender had returned and quietly told her the time, and after a quick goodbye and thank you, Kara rushed back to the bus stop, carrying her duffel bag and backpack, which both seemed to weigh a lot more than they did earlier.

               The blonde woman hoisted her duffel bag to the rack above her seat and moved to sit in the seat closest to the window, placing her backpack next to her. The bus was practically empty, and Kara was one of the last people in line, and if more people were to board, she’d happily move her bag. As she settled into the rough fabric of the bus seat, a small voice told her that what she was doing was bizarre, she should stay in National City, or return to Southport instead, that there was no actual requirement to meet this stranger, but Kara had to. It was the only goal in her mind; a simple thank you, nothing more, nothing less. Kara shifted in her seat and pulled the photo from her back pocket and began to spin it between her fingers again, as she watched the people on the streets pass by in a blur.

               She pulled an old dog-eared copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ from her light khaki backpack. The pages were starting to yellow, and the cover was beginning to fade, but to Kara, it was a sign that it had been well-loved. It was one of the books that the blonde woman personally favoured. It had been her mother’s favourite book when she was younger, and the copy of the book, that Kara always kept with her, belonged to her mother. It was strange to think that she had only carried this memento of hers, and a photo of her adoptive family, the Danvers’, namely one of their most recent photos which featured Kara, Eliza and Alex all beaming on the sand of the beach that was just a little further than their garden. And now, of course, the photograph of the woman she had found after an expected routine night-time raid had turned into a night of fatalities for two platoons.

               After reading the beginning of the book about the break of Jem’s arm for what seemed to be the hundredth time, Kara realised she couldn’t concentrate, she was desperate to find the woman in the photograph who she had still not been able to give a name to. There were a million reasons she shouldn’t go looking for a stranger to thank them, the sound of it in her mind alone was peculiar enough, not to mention how she would explain it to Eliza who didn’t know she was returning to Midvale yet. She shook her head, reminding herself that it was the right thing to do, and she needed to return the photo to its owner. Kara placed the picture between the pages of her book, allowing the alcohol and the motion of the bus to lull her to sleep, as she rested her head against the backpack next to her.

               It had only taken a mere few hours for the bus to arrive to its destination, and the sun was just about to set, its golden glow engulfing every crevice of the station. Kara stepped off the bus at Midvale and ran a hand through her rich honey-blonde hair. _Home_ , she thought, _what on earth am I doing here?_ She breathed in the sweet smell of the salt air that drifted amongst the late afternoon breeze. _You’re here to repay a debt_ , the voice told her.


	2. Sea Glass Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone told me once that the heart of my writing really appears during Kara and Lena's scenes and I really felt that writing this chapter.
> 
> Also, thank you so much for being so lovely with the first chapter! Your comments really mean a lot more to me than you would know, so thank you!!

               The blonde woman left the bus station and passed the waiting yellow taxis, deciding to walk back home. It would only take around twenty minutes, and Kara surmised the fresh air would alleviate the minor dizziness that she could still feel in her head. Passing rows of pine trees, with their fragrant, familiar scent laced with the smell of the sea, she remembered why she loved Midvale so much. There was always a way to be anywhere you wanted – there was the town, the forests, and the beach, and in winter, they would get snow in the hills. Midvale managed to have almost everything its residents could ever wish for, especially the turn of the seasons and the changing colours of the leaves – they were always Kara’s favourite.

               Kara turned left toward the corner of the street where her childhood home was, and walked up the steep paved driveway, being greeted by the sight of the home she hadn’t visited in what seemed like forever. It looked exactly how she remembered, the light slate grey panelling with white siding and the front garden where she saw Eliza fussing over some newly planted hydrangeas, that resembled Parma Violets. “Need a hand?” The young blonde woman called.

               Eliza shaded her eyes from the disappearing sun, and turned towards the familiar voice, “Kara?”

               Kara let her bags fall to the ground as she rushed to Eliza’s side, “I’ve missed you so much!”

               Eliza pulled Kara into a hug, pretending not to notice the bitter smell of alcohol that lingered on Kara’s breath. “It’s so nice to see you, I’m so glad you’re home safe,” she squeezed her daughter tighter, “I would’ve picked you up, you know.”

               For a brief moment, Kara wished the hug hadn’t ended, “There was no need,” she smiled, “I kind of needed the walk.”

               “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?” Eliza asked, removing her gardening gloves.

               “I know I should’ve called, but it’s kind of a long story.”

               “Kara, this is always your home too, you know that. Besides, it just means I can take some time off work to spend more time with you! Should I put the kettle on?” Eliza asked. A smile of relief found its way to Kara’s face; she was finally home, the notion that any problem could be easily fixed or understood with a cup of tea was one of her favourite theories of Eliza’s.

               “That would be great, thank you. I’ll go and get my bags!”

\---

               Kara collected her bags from the driveway where she had unceremoniously dropped them, and walked back into the house, greeted by the scent of citrus and expensive wood. She gently removed her trainers, stepping on the back of each of the shoes, and moving them next to Eliza’s. The blonde woman rushed upstairs with her bags, placing them by the side of her old bed. The room still lingered with the familiar lavender detergent that Eliza had always favoured. Kara removed the photo from her book and placed it back into the pocket of her jeans, a wave of calmness washing over her in the relief of being somewhere she knew extremely well. She padded down the dark wooden stairs and into the kitchen, the smell of the cooking lasagne was like another welcome home to her senses.

               “Where have you been? Tell me everything!” Eliza exclaimed. The two women took their cups of tea and moved to sit at the white kitchen table.

               “I’ve been a few places, here and there,” Kara smiled, “I’ll have to show you some of the photos!”

               “Kara, I’ll have to call Alex and tell her you’re back!”

               “Absolutely, I’m desperate to see her.” A part of Kara knew that she would also receive a lengthy scolding from her older sister after being in National City and voluntarily choosing not to see her once she had found out, but it didn’t matter. Her excitement to see Alex overwrote all of her other feelings.

               “How is Mike?” Eliza asked through gritted teeth, trying not to let her own feelings about him bubble to the surface.

               Kara sighed, “We broke up, it’s not important,” she ran a hand through her honey-like hair, “I’m here to see you, of course, and Alex, but I’m also here because of this.” Kara removed the picture from the pocket of her jeans and passed Eliza the photograph of the woman she had carried with her for months.

               Eliza’s eyes widened, barely hiding her surprise, “where did you get this?”

               Kara’s brow furrowed, “I- I found it.”

               The older woman decided against asking more questions about her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, knowing Kara would talk about it if she needed to, and besides, she was keenly aware that he wasn’t the focus of Kara’s attention at the moment, and a part of her thought it selfish to be glad that they had broken up, as he was never the type of caring person he purposefully tried to be. “When?”

               “On a night raid. Well, in the morning when we went to recover the people we lost. It was sort of embedded in the sand, and I wouldn’t have seen it if the sun wasn’t so bright that day.” In truth, after brushing the remnants of sand to see what was reflecting so much light, Kara’s first instinct and thought were to throw it to the other side of the ground. The photograph didn’t mean anything to her, and whoever lost it obviously didn’t care enough to look after it. However, when she was just about to do so, she saw what was written on the back and the blonde woman surmised that it must have meant a lot to someone, regardless of the tear along the right-hand side, and she devoted much of her time trying to find the owner of the picture. Having a type of reminder of home was something that many soldiers clung to on their worst days, and if the blonde woman could somehow lessen that pain for someone else, why wouldn’t she try? There was a day when Kara had showed the picture to a younger group of men, hoping that the woman was maybe a girlfriend or sister to one of them. After a few of the men had made inappropriate comments as to how much they _wished_ they knew the woman, Kara immediately decided that when it was her turn to run the morning exercises at the base, she would make sure that they had to run extra laps, as well as additional sit-ups and push-ups. It wasn’t much, but the blonde woman hated that type of reaction and behaviour toward other women, as well as any other person, so if there was a way that she could discipline them, she would, and she did.

               “And why do you have it?” Eliza questioned, snapping Kara’s attention back to the present.

               “I tried to find who it belonged to-” Kara inhaled a sharp breath, “everyday I asked around the different platoons on the base, and I couldn’t find whose it was. I guess I thought it deserved to be returned, and I certainly don’t think these good wishes were meant for me,” Kara flipped the picture over, placing the image back in front of Eliza. On the back were handwritten words, in an elegant, cursive font saying, _“Keep safe!”_

               Eliza studied Kara’s eyes, seemingly knowing something that her daughter was completely oblivious to, “Do you know who the woman in the photo is?”

               “No… do you?”

               Eliza sighed, “Kara-”

               “I want to thank her,” Kara mumbled, barely loud enough for Eliza to hear.

               “For what?”

               “For saving my life,” Kara spun the mug of tea around in her hands, “many, many, times.”

               Eliza’s brow furrowed, “But you don’t know who she is, how could she have-”

               “I-” Kara’s words were cut off as she chewed on the bottom of her lip, trying to forget the moments she had accidentally alluded to.

               Eliza gave her daughter a searching look, she seemed to be so much more different when she came back home this time, more so than she did after her previous tours, and it wasn’t just the smell of alcohol on her breath in the middle of the day. “Kara, what happened?”

               “There was an incident…” Kara’s words trailed off again, as her mind began to wander, “do you remember Thomas?”

               Eliza nodded, “Of course! You did your training together and he was your best friend in the military-” she stopped herself as her gaze fell back to her daughter.

               Kara’s eyes began to prick with tears, and her bottom lip started to tremble as her voice finally cracked, “H- he died, and it was all my fault-”

               “Oh, sweetheart-” Eliza moved to wrap her arms around Kara, “it’s not your fault,” she kissed the top of her daughter’s head, “do you want to talk about it?” Kara shook her head, “well whenever you want to, or you need to talk, I’m here for you, any time of the day or night.”

               The remaining, unshed tears in Kara’s eyes continued to be illuminated by the low lights of the kitchen, “Thank you.” They stayed like that for what seemed like a lifetime, with Kara crying softly into Eliza’s shoulder, as Eliza smoothed her daughter’s hair and quietly reassured her, all the while allowing her to cry for as long as she needed to. She wasn’t the type of person to pry, and that’s one of the things Kara loved about her the most, she always _knew_ when it was the right time to ask questions and when it wasn’t. When Kara and Alex were younger, Eliza would stay with her daughters for as long as they would need, which often included complete silence, and she would always make copious amounts of tea and her famous hot chocolate at any opportunity. Kara wiped her eyes, “anyway-” she gave Eliza a weak smile, “sorry about that-”

               Eliza met her daughter’s hand with her own, “Kara, you have nothing to apologise for.”

               _You have no idea_ , she thought. Kara clenched her jaw, in her mind any type of apology wasn’t enough, and she wanted to talk to Eliza about it, but she couldn’t bring herself to think of her best friend without crying, “okay, where were we-” she wiped another stray tear, “the photo.”

               “Her name is Lena.” Eliza said, in a matter-of-fact like manner, straightening her posture.

               “ _Lena_ ,” Kara repeated, running her thumb over the photo in her hand as the corner of her mouth rose in a slight smile. She had spent months wondering what her name was, and now she finally knew. The woman most definitely looked like a Lena now, rather than a Jennifer or Rachel as Kara had previously thought. “It’s funny, I’ve had this photo for months and it was only when I was in North Carolina that I realised where it was taken.” Kara pointed to the photo, “See here? The coastline at the back is Brittas Bay, and there isn’t another town for miles, so I figured she’d be somewhere here, or someone would know her at the very least.” The bay was predominantly known for its beautifully distinctive and sometimes dangerous coastline, namely from the way in which the half moon shaped sand-covered beach was surrounded by towering grassy cliff edges. On the edge of the furthest cliff, closest to the ocean, sat a small white lighthouse, with a rose-coloured top. Kara knew herself that it was also one of the best places to go for both the sunrise and sunset, depending on which cliff was chosen as a vantage point.

               “Have you asked anyone around Midvale or National City?” There was a minor worried tone to Eliza’s voice, but Kara couldn’t quite understand the reason behind it, and before she could ask another question, Eliza quickly gathered her composure, effortlessly changing the topic of their conversation. “She’s such a lovely young woman-”

               Kara drummed her fingers lightly on the kitchen table, “not here, only at the base in Afghanistan. Do you know her well?”

               “In a way-” Eliza began.

               “Can I- and I know this sounds ridiculous, but do you know if there’s a way that I can meet her?”

               Eliza’s steady gaze met Kara’s expectant eyes, “She’s different to the other people who live here, I don’t want to overwhelm her.”

               The thought of overwhelming the woman, overwhelming _Lena_ , hadn’t crossed her mind, and since Eliza had said it, Kara’s thoughts seemed even more ludicrous than before, “What do you mean?”

               “Lena’s not like everyone else, she’s been through _so_ much…” Eliza’s words trailed off into the distance.

               Kara tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, “I just feel like I have to thank her or do something meaningful for her.”

               “She’s only been here a little over six months. I’m surprised she’s been here before, considering where you said the photo must have been taken; but there’s a store she owns by the marina, the old McBride antique store. Do you remember that?”

               “She owns an antique store?” Kara found the possibility of a woman who looked so young to be interested in antiques slightly intriguing and odd all the same, but she rested her head on her hand hoping Eliza would tell her more.

               Eliza shrugged, “It’s more of an ‘everything you could think of’ type of store now – paint, magazines, freshly baked goods, you name it, it’s there, but there’s still some ornaments and things lying around that the previous owners left.” Eliza smiled at Kara, “I remember how much you used to love all of the old books there.”

               Kara smiled. Almost every aspect of Midvale had made her incredibly happy, since a lot of her happiest memories occurred within the small town, and she seemed to have a story for every street, and shopfront throughout. “They were always my favourite, especially the first editions, and the daughter, Mercy, was always so kind to let me read them by the docks.”

               They were interrupted by the chime of the timer, announcing that the food was ready. Eliza had taken the lasagne from the oven, setting it to cool slightly, which allowed Kara to quickly shower and unpack some of her belongings. Once Kara returned, they ate dinner together, sharing stories and laughs between them. Eliza had also told her how busy she had been at the hospital, sometimes needing to be called into work when there was an emergency and she was tucked up in bed, and Kara told Eliza all of the places she had been, showing some of her most recent photos that she had on her phone to her mother. The younger woman had cleaned the table, done the dishes, and made more camomile tea to bring out to Eliza who sat on the deck watching the waves crash against the shore. They remained in a comfortable silence, allowing the floral aroma of the tea to fill the air around them, until the older woman had told her daughter that she was going to have an early night, after experiencing a busy and demanding hospital shift earlier in the day. Kara stayed with the sounds of the ocean for a little less than an hour, until her tea had been finished, and the bitter breeze from the ocean began to steal all of the warmth that the tea had given her. After taking her mug back to the sink, Kara slowly went back upstairs, savouring the little creak in one of the bottom steps, and she eventually fell asleep with the quilt pulled tightly to her chest, reading _To Kill a Mockingbird_.

\---

               Following a few days spent closely fastened to Eliza’s side, Kara was dreading the day when Eliza would have to go back to work at the small hospital in Midvale. On one particular day, Kara woke to the darkness outside, and she turned toward her nightstand, groaning at her alarm clock telling her it was five in the morning. At some point, Eliza would be waking up to go to work, if she wasn’t awake already. Kara had expected her back to ache from the still unfamiliar bed, especially after spending so much time in cheap motels with mattresses where she could practically feel the springs beneath her, but instead she felt refreshed, even if she was awake well before the sun. It was the first night Kara hadn’t woken up in the middle of a nightmare screaming, and a part of her felt she would likely make up for it in the following days. The blonde woman threw her quilt back, _time to face the day_ , she thought to herself. After tying her mess of morning tangles into a loose bun, Kara rubbed the sleep from her eyes and padded down the dark wooden stairs to the kitchen.

               Kara wasn’t the best of chefs by any means. However, she did try to make the most elegant dishes she could think of, including a beef bourguignon, that somehow ended up raw even after being slowly cooked for almost two hours. It didn’t mean that she couldn’t manage the basics, although she had to be more attentive, Kara still loved cooking regardless, or what _she_ classed as cooking.

               Eliza always favoured the American style of pancakes in the mornings instead of crêpes, so Kara fiddled with every recipe book in the cupboard until she finally found one that she would like. After cracking one of the eggs into a bowl and having to simultaneously remove one or two pieces of shell, the blonde woman added the rest of the ingredients, cleaning up excess flour that had somehow ended up all over the white granite countertops.

               By the time the sun had begun to rise, Kara placed the batter into the already hot skillet and watched the sunlight as it slowly engulfed the kitchen. Mornings had become her favourite time of the day, she had the chance to be awake when the rest of the world was still, and the gentle glow that illuminated from the grass outside made it look as if it had its own source of light from within. Though it was already late enough for the sun to wake the town, it was still late enough that the streets would be completely deserted. It was Kara’s idea of perfection, apparently just before half six in the morning in the middle of April, was the perfect time of day. Her attention quickly shifted to the muffled sound of Eliza’s footsteps on the stairs.

               “Kara! I thought you’d still be asleep!” Eliza exclaimed, silently surprised at Kara making breakfast for the both of them, not to mention the lack of a burning smell from the pans. She was already dressed in her usual white scrubs, with her white coat draped over her right arm, and the white gold pocket watch hanging from her front pocket. Alex and Kara had gotten her the watch for her birthday one year, when she had a particularly difficult time with some of her patients, after a few older people had gotten ill after a dreadful winter. It was engraved with _“You will always be our hero, and our biggest inspiration in life. Love, Alex and Kara xxx.”_ They had managed to save just enough between them from the summers they would work part-time in one of Midvale’s cafés when they were younger, and they quickly agreed on where they wanted their money to go; for Eliza to have a small reminder of them whenever she needed.

               “Good morning!” Kara beamed, “I wanted to make us breakfast; it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to actually eat something I’ve cooked, especially since it’s your first day back after being stuck with me.”

               Eliza laughed and kissed the top of Kara’s head, “Thank you, but you know how much I love spending time with you,”

               Kara poured a cup of coffee for them both, “milk, and no sugar, right?”

               “Right as always,” Eliza settled into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, “have you got any plans today?”

               “I was going to call Alex, and maybe-“ Kara placed both mugs of coffee onto the table, “maybe stop by Lena’s store.”

               “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

               Kara nodded to herself, “I only owe her a thank you, Eliza.”

               “Okay but be mindful of her. A total stranger rushing into your store to thank you for something you’re completely unaware of is kind of a lot to take in.”

               “I know, a basic thank you, that’s all.” Kara placed a plate of pancakes in front of Eliza and returned with her own, “I’ll also return the photo to her, whoever it belonged to must want it back.”

\---

               Once Eliza had left for work, and Kara had practically tackled her so that she could do the dishes, she went back upstairs to shower. She had chosen to wear a pair of dark jeans, and a pastel pink button-up shirt. Kara made sure to lightly curl the ends of her blonde hair too. When she had finished getting ready, and brushed her teeth, she put her glasses back on, scrutinising every aspect of her appearance in the mirror. There was no real reason to explain the way Kara’s stomach was a mess of knots, or to justify why she had chosen to spend longer getting ready this morning compared to every other morning, it wasn’t as if she were going somewhere that required this level of detail, but Kara went ahead nonetheless.

               The walk to the docks was short, but Kara slowed her steps, savouring the warmth of the sun and the accompanying crystalline sky. The blonde woman had practiced what she would say for weeks – she would start off with a small introduction; her name, and where she was from, and then she would tell the woman about the photo she had found, and how it had somehow became her good luck charm, even if she barely understood it herself.

               Kara passed seagulls squawking at each other on the sand and fighting over the remnants of a chip someone must have recently dropped. For a moment, Kara missed the sounds of National City. They were irritating at times, and the traffic was often too much to contend with, but even so, Kara’s idea of home belonged in two vastly different places – Midvale and National City. She had often been told that ‘home was where the heart is’, and the blonde woman frequently wondered if she would find somewhere, or someone, that would become home to her.

               The pier was just as she had remembered it, slightly rickety on the same planks of wood as they had always been. Again, Kara’s mind told her she was being silly, that she should turn around and go back home, even go back to National City to be with Mike. She shook her head, dismissing her thoughts, her heartbeat racing more and more with each step she took until she finally saw the store in the distance; and the small silhouettes of people eating by the picnic benches that were placed outside. The blonde woman thought they must be eating some of the freshly baked goods that Eliza said the store sold, another note to herself – _make sure to check if there’s any red velvet cupcakes or doughnuts with multi-coloured sprinkles_.

               The store was painted a shade of air force blue, with white wooden siding that was beginning to flake and fade, likely from the exposure to the salt air and sun, and a few of the shingles from the roof had fallen, which the blonde woman thought to be caused by a recent storm. There was a small room on the top nearer the water, that overlooked the entire marina where the store was located and the adjoining beach, and for a moment, Kara’s childlike wonder had returned; she had often thought about the view from up there, having never had the chance to actually climb the black metal spiral staircase to the top. When Kara walked closer to the store, she noticed that the woman had kept the ‘McBride Antiques’ painting on the window, and there was a huge ‘ _Help Wanted_ ’ sign in the other window next to it, and the blonde woman thought that she could maybe repay her debt by working, even if it was a small gesture, she was more than happy to start off small.

               Kara walked into the store, savouring the familiar sound of the bell ringing above the door, and a part of her was grateful that the new owner had decided to keep it. The store looked exactly how she had remembered it, the white paint on the inside, now beginning to flake like the outside, but the store looked the same; despite the lack of antiques and varying clocks from grandfather clocks to cuckoo clocks that all used to chime simultaneously on the hour, it hadn’t changed at all. It was nice to have an aspect of her life that always seemed to remain the same, Midvale, despite the constant influx of new people, or new technologies, the atmosphere was always pleasant and the people always friendly, and it was calming for the blonde woman to have something she could always depend on, even if everything else around it and her seemed to change.

               The woman Kara now knew to be Lena, fluttered effortlessly behind the counter, and she looked completely different in person, her dark hair was tied in a loose ponytail, and she wore a cream thickly knitted jumper that was oversized and fell just below her hips. Kara couldn’t understand why she was wearing such a heavy sweater, it was spring, of course, but it was terribly warm inside the store, even with the small fan rotating at such a high speed making a loud whirring sound behind her, the heat was almost unbearable. However, the woman looked younger somehow, if that was possible, considering the photo must have been taken a few years ago, and she seemed to glow with a type of ethereal beauty that Kara’s mind couldn’t manage to comprehend. It was her eyes that Kara’s attention focused on, even standing a few metres away, she could see the way they seemed to resemble a beautiful sea glass green that glittered in the sun. When Kara had first found the photo, it was also the woman’s eyes that had caught the majority of her attention, and Lena’s eyes were otherworldly. Much like in the photo, they shone with an intensity she couldn’t explain and in person it was even more.

               When she got to the front of the line, her ocean blue eyes met sea glass green, the sky finally meeting the forests it surrounded and depended on for its very existence, and she held her hand out, “Hi! I’m Kara, Kara Danvers.”

               The dark-haired woman smiled, perfectly concealing her internal surprise at a customer formally introducing themselves, and shook Kara’s hand irrespective of her feelings, “I’m Lena.” Despite the heat, her hands were slightly cold to the touch, and her nails were perfectly trimmed, with a coat of clear nail polish that made them gleam; and the comparison to Kara’s lightly calloused palms and bitten nails was almost comical. Kara’s mouth began searching for words amongst the air and Lena raised her left eyebrow in question toward the blonde woman who was stopping the queue from moving, “Well, Kara, Kara Danvers, can I get you something?”

               “I’m actually here because of this-” Kara began fiddling with her purse, as the dark-haired woman looked on, her emerald eyes managing to burn through Kara’s every move, who was busy removing old pieces of paper to reach the photo, silently cursing herself for choosing to wear jeans with fake pockets. She hated when those pockets managed to look so genuine, and regardless, Kara still loved how comfortable they were, with or without pockets, although _with_ would have been nice, especially today.

               “Oh, you saw the ad!” Lena exclaimed gleefully. She opened a squeaky drawer under the till and much like Kara, started rifling through some papers, placing a few of them onto the counter as she looked for one of the application forms. “Now, I know it says that the job doesn’t pay much, but if you need more, we can definitely arrange something. The shifts will be Monday to Saturday, nine until five,” she lightly scoffed to herself, “kind of like Dolly Parton!” The dark-haired woman continued with what seemed to be a rehearsed monologue at such a lightning-fast pace, “and it will be more than likely that at times you’ll be running the store alone-“ she looked up to see Kara’s mouth agape, and paused, “sorry, too much information, too fast.”

               The blonde woman’s brow furrowed, “Excuse me?”

               Lena’s eyes met Kara’s confused gaze, and she slowed her speech, “The advert in the paper. You’re here for the job, aren’t you?“

               “Uh- help-” Kara’s hands gestured wildly, seemingly remembering the reason she was standing in front of this woman, and in _her_ store, as she searched for more words. Kara released the breath she had been briefly holding, “you have a help wanted sign in the window,” she pushed her glasses up, remembering that it seemed to be a way that she could repay her debt, in part. There were some aspects of the store that needed painting, both inside and out, and she noticed when she walked through the front door, that it didn’t sit properly on the hinges, and some of the window panes were slightly foggy and condensation was building in the corners, so they likely needed replacing too; all of which Kara knew she was able to do.

               The dark-haired woman nodded, after being told something she was already well aware of. “Observant,” Lena quipped with a slight smirk, “any experience?”

               “I’m in the military, and I’m currently on leave.” Kara caught a flicker of pain pass over Lena’s face that disappeared just as quickly as she saw it, as if the woman opposite had managed to catch it herself.

               “What about working in a store?” Lena questioned, trying to understand the woman in front of her, “We could do with a new clerk.”

               Kara nodded, “In a way – I worked as a barista when I was younger.”

               Lena tilted her head to the side as she thought, her ponytail following her movements, “There’s a café down the street, they’re hiring too. Why here?”

               The blonde woman’s eyes focused on the view outside, in her mind she was already taking photos of the way the sun seemed to make the ocean sparkle as the small waves caused the fishing boats, as well as the odd small yacht, to bob up and down in an unordered rhythm. Kara ran a shaking hand through her hair, “Right- I- I guess I’ve always wanted to sell...” she met Lena’s eyes, “things.”

               “Things? Doesn’t a barista sell drinks?” Lena shrugged, and wafted the air in front of her with her hand, trying to dismiss her words, “Or make them, I suppose-”

               “Objects.” Kara’s hand moved to touch one of the expensive looking dappled turquoise vases with a golden trim, as the woman’s eyes opposite followed her motions again, she spun the vase slowly and let out a nervous giggle.

               Lena narrowed her eyes, the woman in front of her looked incapable of looking after a goldfish, never mind being in the military, and there was something so _strange_ about her entire demeanour. “Mhm. Well, I’ll need a reference, an updated resume and some form of legitimate I.D.”

               Kara straightened her posture, trying to gather her composure, and replied with a curt nod, “I can have all of that by tomorrow.”

               “Bring it on Monday instead, and your trial shift starts next week.”

               “Just like that?” Kara questioned.

               “Just like that.” Lena parroted, “We can have a formal interview on Monday.” Not to mention Lena was desperate for the help, even if it that help came in the form of the woman who stood in front of her, as no one else had responded to the constant adverts.

               Kara’s eyes sparkled, and the huge smile on her face told Lena how much this small part-time job seemed to mean to the woman. However, what she didn’t know was how long it had taken Kara to get to this point. “Okay, thank you so much!”

               “Great. See you next week, Kara, Kara Danvers.” Lena said, the right-hand corner of her mouth raising in another smirk and Kara slowly nodded, quickly turning on her heels to leave.

               When Kara reached the white wooden door, she heard Lena greet another one of the customers. The blonde woman placed her hand on the lightly scratched chrome handle of the front door and turned to look back at the dark-haired woman when she left the store. Lena was certainly different to anyone else Kara had met, but not in a way Eliza seemed to suggest. She seemed slightly stand-offish, and yet a nagging thought in the blonde woman’s mind told her she had already seen this woman somewhere else, not just in the photo she had carried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what Eliza is hiding?? 
> 
> Updates will be a little slow for the next two weeks, both for this fic and my other, as exam season started yesterday which I'm clearly thrilled about and haven't complained about once.
> 
> Come say hi on Twitter if you like! I'm @outislanders


	3. Mosaic Broken Vases

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far, I'm still not over those pictures Odette posted of her and Katie (my brotp)
> 
> Tw // Slightly alluding to PTSD

               After walking at such a brisk pace towards her childhood home, Kara unlocked the front door and immediately kicked her shoes off and headed for the sofa. Her heart was racing, and she couldn’t believe she somehow walked away with a job opportunity, rather than without a photo like she had originally planned. Sure, she could it make it work if the woman needed help, that was the very foundation of Kara’s debt. Besides, in her mind, she wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Lena, and that’s all she kept telling herself. The blonde woman shook her head, tightly closing her eyes as she tried to control her breathing. She was quickly interrupted by the shrill sound of her phone ringing.

               Kara dug the phone from her pocket, seeing it was Eliza calling, she immediately answered, trying to disguise the shakiness of her own voice. “Hi Eliza. How are you doing?”

               _“Hi sweetie, I’m good thank you, I just called to check in on you. How are you? Did you manage to stop by the store?”_

               Kara inhaled a sharp breath before she answered, “I’m okay. Yeah-” she ran a hand through her blonde hair as she thought, “I’ve got a job interview and a trial shift next week.” She chewed on her lower lip, whilst the conversation paused, and she waited for Eliza’s response.

               It was as if Eliza hadn’t registered that her daughter had finished speaking, but once she realised what’s she had said, the  surprise in her voice found its way effortlessly through the phone. _“You did what?!”_

               “She needs the help, and I- I don’t know, it all happened so fast, and it seemed like a good idea at the time and _now_ I realise that it’s probably a terrible idea and I should’ve just walked straight out of the door after giving her back the photo but how else would I have been able to thank her? I mean the store could do with repairs and- and-”

               Eliza stopped Kara’s rambling, _“Kara, it’s okay. You can just call her and tell her you’re too busy, or that you can’t-”_

               Kara let out an exasperated sigh, relaxing further into the sofa, “I’m such an idiot.”

               _“You’re not,”_ Eliza took a deep breath on the other side of the phone _,_ _“if she needs the help, help her.”_

               “It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”

               _“You always manage to do the right thing, honey.”_

               Kara nodded to herself, reaching the conclusion she had thought to be the best, “I- I’m going to make a start on dinner, is there something special you’re thinking?”

               _“I can pick up some pizza on the way home, if you like.”_

               “From Antonio’s?” Kara asked. It was the most popular pizzeria in Midvale, not to mention the oldest. There was an option for takeout and sitting to eat inside the restaurant, and Antonio’s also sold pasta, not to mention that their cheesecake was borderline famous. It was the type of restaurant that became everyone’s go-to place, after school or before a party, the lines were always long but the food was always worth the wait.

               “ _Is there any other place?”_

               “That sounds wonderful! I’ll see you when you get home.”

               Kara stayed out on the deck for the rest of the afternoon, trying to finish her book whilst she watched the sun begin its slow descent behind the horizon. The sound of the ocean gently meeting the shore was her favourite melody, and the way each interaction never sounded quite the same – like seeing an old friend after years of not speaking, the familiarity was still there, but needed time to be remembered. She was beginning to fall asleep when Eliza knocked lightly on the window, brandishing two boxes of Antonio’s pizza, and a huge grin. Kara had run through her whole meeting with Lena, making sure to tell Eliza how she accidentally left with an opportunity to be the new clerk at the store, whilst silently cursing herself for forgetting to check about the cupcakes and doughnuts. The weekend passed quickly, with both women grateful to spend more time with each other.

\---

               By the time Monday rolled around, it was as if the last day and first day of two separate weeks had merged together without Kara’s full attention of the change. When the blonde woman eventually succumbed to sleep on Sunday night, she woke to prickling, sweaty skin and her pulse racing as if she had somehow run a marathon in her sleep. Rubbing her temples in a feeble attempt to clear the nightmare from her mind, Kara squinted at her alarm clock, with the illuminated red numbers telling her it was almost four in the morning. A small part of her was grateful that this time she didn’t wake screaming and thrashing, fighting herself to open her eyes as was her usual experience. She didn’t disturb Eliza, and her internal gratitude stemmed from her own silence, and not waking Eliza and worrying her more. To the younger blonde woman, it was a conversation that could wait, or better yet, one that could be passed by completely. Kara couldn’t bare to have Eliza’s eyes fill with more worry and concern than they already did each time a silence fell between them and she caught her mom’s gaze.

               She knew that the lack of dreams when she first arrived in Midvale were too good to be true. Her dreams, well, nightmares, were haunted by the same thing and the same people, time and time again. Unlike nightmares when she was a young child, her dreams weren’t clouded by lost teddy bears, or ghouls, or spiders, but the constant loss of people she loved – of Thomas, of her birth parents, of Jeremiah, her adoptive father. A few of Kara’s nightmares began with Kara walking around a random, generic town, or a park, and it would seem perfectly normal. Until she would realise that the place was deserted, and the only person was her, and she’d walk a little more and see her birth parents and Jeremiah, usually lying on the ground with their eyes focused on her. In her worst nightmares, she sees the three of them and Thomas, each person asking her for help whilst she’s unable to move and disappearing when she gains the use of her legs again. During the majority of her recent nightmares, she was in back in Afghanistan, and reliving every moment of her recent tour, the most notable of which was the day Thomas died, and Kara had been shot. The nightmare on that Sunday night was Thomas’ dark eyes watching her as she ran for help, calling for Kara to stay with him, but each time, she chose to run in the opposite direction.

               Instead of trying to go to back to sleep, which usually ended with her lying awake for hours, or her nightmares continuing where they left off, Kara threw the quilt back and sat up. She padded barefoot to the bathroom, the birds were already awake and singing and it was a comfort to know she wasn’t alone at such an odd hour, not quite night and not quite day. When Kara turned the shower on, she turned it up to the highest heat, leaving her pyjamas in a small heap on the floor, she quickly jumped in. The blonde woman stayed a little longer in the shower than she normally would have, allowing the hot water to warm her skin until it began to turn pink from the heat and her fingers started to prune. She hated the sight of the scar on the side of her body, but like the nightmares, it was another thing Kara surmised would need her full strength, or what was left of her strength, to adjust to.

               Kara had intended to have a night of uninterrupted sleep, but the sun was beginning to rise once she eventually decided on leaving the comfort of the shower, and went back to bed, tightly pulling the covers around her. The blonde woman decided on sleeping during the day, knowing she would likely be awake well into the night. A small part of her was wary on adopting a nocturnal lifestyle as if she were a college student again, the nights studying and days spent sleeping, or where all hours would be spent socialising and forgetting to study altogether. She surmised she’d regret staying in bed when the day turned into darkness again, but to her, that was a long way off.

               Kara had also planned to go to Lena’s store earlier in the day, hopefully when it opened, which she knew to be nine in the morning, as Lena had likened the shifts to Dolly Parton. But as she refused to leave her bedroom, drifting between being asleep and awake, it was early afternoon by the time she chose to shower again and get ready. Whether Eliza was aware of Kara staying in her room the entire day, or whether she thought her sleeping a little longer in the morning instead of being downstairs for breakfast, she was unsure. When the blonde left the house, it was just after five, and even in the early hour, the sky was already beginning to chase colours of violets and burnt orange as Kara walked back to the old familiar store, feeling slightly groggy but optimistic all the same.

               Bundled into a small lilac plastic folder under Kara’s arm, was her I.D., along with her resume and her references to take to the owner of the store. Crossing the pier, she saw Lena locking the front door, with bags in hand. “Hi!” Kara called from around two dozen feet away.

               Lena’s head snapped immediately toward the voice, and her shoulders dropped once she realised who it was, “Hi.”

               Kara walked towards her, “I’ve brought everything you asked for.”

               “Okay, thank you. I have to go home but-” Lena cut her own words off, realising the woman in front of her had put in the effort of coming to the store, since she herself had suggested meeting on Monday. “Have you got a spare ten minutes?”

               The blonde woman nodded, she had all the time in the world at her disposal, “I do if you do.”

               “Great.” Lena walked to one of the wooden picnic benches and placed her dark cloth tote bag on one side of the table.

               Kara followed, noting the small quote on Lena’s bag, ‘ _wise and cynical as hell_ ’ in a beautiful golden calligraphic font. _Sylvia Plath_ , Kara thought, _of course she reads Sylvia Plath_. Even as a complete stranger, the woman opposite and her personal choice of literature didn’t surprise Kara, and it seemed to suit her, she appeared wise enough, but cynical? Kara hadn’t managed to figure that part out just yet. For a moment, the blonde woman thought of asking what her favourite book was, or her favourite author, but once Lena sat down, Kara again remembered her actual purpose of being there.

               The blonde woman quickly handed over the documents in the lilac folder to an expectant looking Lena, along with her passport. Lena quickly glanced at the papers, in truth, she was more interested in a legitimate form of identification. The woman’s passport matched the name she had told her a few days ago – Kara Danvers, and there were plenty of stamps throughout her passport that Lena first skimmed past trying to get to the actual part with the information she needed. She always seemed to have that trouble with passports, that no matter how much she had travelled, which was _a lot_ , managing to get to the section with the photo was always the most difficult for her. The dark-haired woman quickly remedied the slight uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them, “Where did you say you were from, again?”

               “Midvale, originally, but I live in National City.” Kara fidgeted with her hands, her own mention of National City making her blood boil. She used to adore it, but any memory of it had quickly become tainted by Mike, not to mention her own apartment.

               “So, what are you doing back in Midvale, Kara?” Lena asked, allowing her curiosity to get the better of her.

               “I’m here- here to spend some time with family, that sort of thing.” Kara shrugged, “It’s been a really long time since I’ve had the chance to do that due to my deployment.”

               “Do the rest of your family live here?”

               “My sister lives in the city but my mom does, well my ad-”

               “I’m so sorry,” Lena interrupted, her eyes widening at the realisation of her slight intrusion into a stranger’s life, “that’s none of my business.”

               Kara gave Lena a small lopsided smile, “I don’t mind, her name is Eliza.”

               Lena’s sharp emerald eyes met Kara’s, and she nodded, “Okay.” She began fiddling with the papers again, placing them into an order that somehow seemed right to her. _Kara Danvers,_ _I should have put the two together_ _myself_ , she thought. Lena passed the documents back to the other woman, “Your military career – wh- what rank were you?”

               “I _am_ a Sergeant.”

               “Right, right you’re still-” Lena fiddled absentmindedly with the sleeve of her light grey knitted sweater, and her words were almost inaudible.

               “I’m on leave,” Kara quietly reminded her.

               Lena nodded to herself, “I remember.” A change seemed to pass over the brunette woman opposite. Her hair practically looked raven in the setting sun, and the almost crystal nature of her eyes absorbed the dwindling light source, but that wasn’t it. Kara couldn’t understand whether it was the brief mention of Eliza, or the mention of the military again. As if on cue, Lena straightened her posture, and gave Kara a tight lipped smile, “I would ask you to describe a time when you worked as a team, or when you were punctual, but I suppose it comes with the territory.”

               “It does, but I’m still happy to tell you if you like.”

               “I trust you can cover the basics. How old did you say you were?”

               “I’m twenty-four, but I’ll be twenty-five in a few months.” Kara met Lena’s quizzical stare, and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, “I can tell what you’re thinking – that I’m a little young for a Sergeant, but I enlisted just before I turned nineteen, and I suppose that was it for me,” the blonde shrugged, somehow summing up some of the most important years of her life in a few words.

               The brunette nodded, Kara did look extremely young, especially from the way in which her eyes crinkled at the corners each time she smiled. “Now… is there a certain wage that you’re comfortable with? I know the military usually pay around three thousand dollars a month with your rank.”

               Kara wondered how she knew; it wasn’t necessarily common knowledge. The only understanding was that military personnel weren’t paid as much as they deserved, but the specific figures were rarely discussed. “Whatever you’re offering is fine.”

               “It’s not much,” Lena countered.

               “I don’t need much,” Kara quickly replied.

               The brunette noted the blonde’s posture, even sitting, it was calming and spoke of an easy confidence – military bearing, _of course_ , Lena thought. “It’s not like I can offer you minimum wage, that would be ridiculous. Not to mention that they only give you so many paid days of leave and I don’t want you to be out of pocket.”

               “I’m staying with my mom, it’s really no problem, and besides, this is _your_ store.”

               “How long are you on leave for?”

               “I’ve got around a year left, just a little less.”

               “How would twenty-five dollars an hour sound? To begin with, anyway.”

               Kara’s eyes widened, “Th- that’s too much for a part-time job.”

               “Listen, you’re a part of the military, it’s the least I can do, and we really need the staff.”

               “We can discuss it another time – you haven’t even given me the trial shift yet; for all you know, you could be pushing me out of the door by the end of the week.” Kara giggled.

               “Okay.” Lena stood, and extended her hand to Kara, “It was nice to talk to you. Tomorrow would be brilliant if you want to have your trial shift then… if you can, of course.”

               “Sounds perfect, see you tomorrow.” Once Kara had placed her documents back into the plastic folder, she gave Lena a small wave when the brunette walked back to her car.

               On her walk back home, Kara realised there was nothing formal about the interview Lena conducted, she had only heard Kara’s name again, with the briefest insight into her background. To the blonde, it seemed to be a way of checking her legitimacy as a person, and to make sure she wasn’t lying. She scoffed to herself once she started the steep incline from the beach towards her childhood home, realising she would have done exactly the same.

\---

               The sun was starting to illuminate the horizon, as golden flecks began dancing along the ripples of the ocean. Lena slammed the door to her Range Rover Autobiography, the immediate echo disturbing the melodic chatter of the birds. It wasn’t her first choice of car, but she had chosen it due to its size and convenience once she first moved to Midvale, as she was able to receive one of the first models due to her family name. In truth, Lena couldn’t care less about the fact it was a new edition or that it could reach sixty miles per hour in less than five seconds. It looked capable, and she had the opportunity to customise it herself, opting for a ligurian black exterior, and a dark grey leather interior, and that was all she cared for. The brunette wasn’t supposed to be spending as much time at the store as she was, and despite her reservations, military or otherwise, she hoped Kara would be able to manage it, until she was able to hire another person on a permanent basis.

               “You’re early, Miss Danvers.” Lena said, making Kara jump slightly at the break in the comforting silence.

               The blonde woman looked up from her book, “I realised we didn’t actually specify a time, and please, call me Kara.”

               “Well at least your time management is pretty good, Kara.”

               The blonde woman nodded, seemingly pleased with herself, despite the heavy concealer under her eyes which were hiding dark circles from her lack of sleep. “I guess so.”

               Lena unlocked the front door of the store, and turned back to look at Kara, her head had returned back to her book, as if trying to sneak in the last few sentences on the page. “We don’t really get customers until after nine, so if you want to stay out here for a little longer, you can.”

               “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

               “I’m being serious, and it’s a really good book you’ve chosen.”

               Kara’s brow furrowed at the small kindness from the woman who owned the store, and would likely become her new boss, “Okay. Thank you.” The blonde woman stayed outside to finish the chapter of her book, which was only ten more pages. She placed it back into the worn light brown leather satchel she carried. Kara walked into the store, and Lena’s attention moved away from the folder she was studying to the front door once she heard the chime of the bell.

               “Right,” Kara’s hands rested on her hips, her eyes roaming the store, “where do I start?” Luckily, the store was cooler than when Kara had first entered it a few days ago, which she was silently grateful for, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to cope with that type of warmth stuck indoors all day.

               “Realistically, it’s just taking the money from customers, putting it through the till and giving them the right change if they’re paying cash. I’ll show you how to use the card machine, although most people do tend to pay with cash around here.” She shrugged; Lena supposed it was due to most customers buying items that seemed to be more of an effort to pay by card. “If they want something in particular that we don’t have, then you’ll have to fill in an order form which are under the counter and get the details of the customer and then order whatever it is they’re after from one of the other main suppliers towards the end of the day. I like to make sure that whatever it is will be kept in stock when they return, especially if they’re local, so we also keep a record of the orders under the counter too.” The brunette woman shrugged again, “That’s about it.”

               Kara nodded, “I can do that.”

               “Great,” Lena’s fingers drummed lightly on the counter as she thought, “you’ll also have to maintain a record of inventory too, and that will need to be done at the end of the day, in case we need more items.”

               For a moment, Kara wanted to ask why they needed the help. Everything seemed so perfectly in order, there was no real reason she could decipher why they needed help. “Are there any-” Kara lowered her voice, as Lena narrowed her eyes, the concern written on her face, “are there any red velvet cupcakes or doughnuts?”

               Lena let out a hearty laugh, “That depends on how today goes.”

               “So that’s a _maybe_?”

               The brunette’s eyebrow rose, “It’s more of a _we’ll see_.”

               “I’m taking that as a yes,” Kara hummed.

               “Normally after lunch is when we have them, unless it’s a Friday or Saturday morning, then I’ll have practically anything from bread to sweet pastries.”

               “Do you like to bake?”

               “I used to all the time with my mother when I was younger.”

               “I can’t wait to try them.”

               Lena met Kara’s expectant eyes which were silently urging her to continue the conversation, “What about you? Do you bake or cook?”

               A mischievous smile passed the blonde woman’s lips, “I mean I _try_ but unless it’s meant to end up practically barbecued, then no, I don’t. Eating is great, the cooking? Not so great.”

               “Fine. They’re yours, only a few – gotta save them for the customers.”

               Kara’s brow furrowed, “Are you leaving at lunch?”

               “For a couple of hours, maximum, I’ve got some things to take care of and I’ll get the cupcakes.” Noting the way the blonde woman’s face momentarily fell, Lena tried to gently reassure her as best as she could, “You’ll be great, there isn’t many people around at that time, and my friend Eve will be stopping by beforehand. I’ll introduce you two, she isn’t from Midvale but she’s just visiting me and helping out for a little while.”

               Kara nodded, “Okay.”

               “Quick tour,” Lena walked from behind the counter and Kara quickly fell into step behind her. “Here’s the food, fresh is in the refrigerator, but vegetables that can’t be refrigerated aren’t, of course, and everything else is over here. There’s also a little freezer at the back with ice-cream and a small fridge with sodas and other cold drinks, that sort of thing.” The brunette continued with her monologue of directions, completely unaware of the way Kara’s mind tried to keep up with the organisation of the store that only seemed to make sense to the owner. “Household essentials are on the shelf closest to the wall, with some items usually found in a hardware store that we _somehow_ end up with too.” Lena turned on her heels to face Kara, her hands still gesturing at the corners of the store, making her look a bit like a flight attendant, “cosmetics and toiletries are at the back, alcohol to the left, and magazines to the right, and everything else is somewhere in between. If you want a break or anything and there isn’t anyone here, just go down toward the back room and listen for the bell. There’s a separate fridge in there and a microwave, and also a worktable that we’ve just been using as a desk,” she shrugged, “so if you do choose to come back, you can easily bring anything you like.” Lena looked around, pleased with herself to have covered the basics, “In summer we do have gas canisters and bait for the people who dock here, but that’s not really important at the moment... and I’m not entirely sure _why_ you need to know that but-” she gave the blonde a curt nod, stopping herself from rambling more.

               After attempting to both follow and remember what seemed to be a type of cluttered organising system, Kara noticed the antiques from her childhood dotted around the store. Towards the back there was a freestanding mirror, with a thing mahogany decorated in an ornate foliage detailing. The mirror itself looked tarnished, or maybe it had been cleaned so much that the reflective finish wore off. Lena cleared her throat, snapping the blonde woman’s attention back to the present. Kara responded with a sheepish smile, “Sounds fantastic.”

               They walked back to the front of the store; Lena noticed Kara eyeing the worn books under the counter. “Take one if you like. Tourists in the summer usually leave them outside on the benches and the docks or finish reading their books and forget about them, or so I’m told they used to.”

               Kara grinned, “Thank you.”

               Lena smiled, small dimples appearing in her cheeks, “I’ll unpack some of the boxes, if you just want to stay at the front.”

               The blonde returned the copy of _Gone with the Wind_ she was holding to the shelf under the counter, “I’ll help.”

               “Okay, thank you.”

               Kara took some of the cardboard boxes from the front of the store to Lena, silently surprised at the weight of them in her own arms. After noticing the small plastic stool the brunette had placed in front of the shelf, Kara decided to stock the higher shelves, realising Lena was unable to reach, leaving her with the lower ones. It wasn’t that the owner was ridiculously shorter than the blonde, she just thought it would be a little easier that way. They unpacked the boxes of canned goods, with Kara, the lover of food, commenting on her love for kidney beans in chilli con carne, as she placed them onto the middle shelves, making sure the labels were all facing the same direction. Lena agreed and had mentioned that they only stocked them once a month since most people bypassed them, which she surmised was due to the name matching an organ, rather than the actual taste.

\---

               The two women were practically finished unpacking the cardboard boxes when the bell above the door chimed. “Just a second!” Lena called, dusting her hands off onto her dark slacks.

               “It’s only me!” A woman’s voice replied, quickly appearing at the end of the row of shelves, with a huge smile.

               The brunette hugged the woman, after which both of their attention shifted to the taller blonde who was still stacking her portion of the higher shelves. “Kara, this is Eve, one of my best friends.” Lena smiled.

               “Hi!” Kara beamed, placing the last tin of soup on the top shelf, and extending her hand to Eve.

               “It’s so nice to meet you,” Eve smiled. The woman was a little shorter than both Kara and Lena, with bright blonde loosely curled hair that fell right at her shoulders and blue eyes with the tiniest hint of silver flecks that were visible due to the sunlight filtering throughout the store. She wore a pastel pink cardigan over a short dark floral dress, somehow perfectly matching the current season that was spring.

               “And you.”

               Lena looked between the two women, “Great. I’m off home, I’ll be back quickly,” she opened the door, “with cupcakes!” The brunette called back, before the door caught the chime of the bell and shut behind her.

               “Lena tells me you’re from National City too.” Eve studied the blue of Kara’s eyes, she didn’t _seem_ as odd or suspicious as Lena had made her out to be. Military or not, she seemed perfectly ordinary, and Eve surmised Lena was being slightly paranoid.

               “Yeah, I used to live downtown,” Kara gestured with her hands, “on Hope Street.”

               “That’s such a beautiful place, with all of the red-bricked buildings it’s kind of like Midvale!”

               Kara smiled and rubbed the back of her neck, “I think that’s why I fell in love with it, to be honest.”

\---

               The start of the day had passed in a busy blur. Eve allowed Kara to take the majority of the responsibilities, much to Kara’s avail. It was nice for the taller blonde to be able to be in a place of work that didn’t require camouflaged clothes or the roar of gunfire, despite the influx of people at lunchtime, each customer always chatted with both women, even if they were only visiting the store to buy a cold drink. Once the store was empty, Kara and Eve spoke about National City, mainly mentioning the best places to eat and the best bars dotted throughout the city.

               Eve stood behind the counter, flicking through pages of a fashion magazine whilst she spoke to Kara. “Did you ever go to Noonan’s in National City?”

               Kara was fiddling with the items at the front of the store, adjusting the way they sat on shelves, so that they appeared slightly more presentable. She quickly spun around to face Eve once she heard the mention of her favourite restaurant. “Yes!” Once she walked closer to the counter, she began to gesture with her hands as she spoke in an upbeat tone, with an accompanying smile. “That was my favourite-” Kara’s words were cut off as her hands immediately fumbled once she noticed the vase fall to the floor. She winced at the sound of dappled turquoise vase hitting the ground into what could only be described as a million pieces in varying sizes. “Oh my god.”

               Eve exchanged a quick look with Kara, quickly masking the shock on her face, “It’s fine!” She continued, “It’s totally fine, we can just clean it up. You’re not hurt, are you?”  


               Kara shook her head, “How much was it?”

               “I don’t know- probably not a lot, or she wouldn’t have left it there.”

               Kara knelt where she stood and reached for one of the pieces that was still somewhat intact – the base of the vase showing the small sticker with a price. Her eyes widened when she saw the number, she cleared her throat, but her voice still left her mouth in a croaky manner, “It’s _nine_ _hundred_ dollars-”

               “Oh, uh-”

               “She’s going to kill me!” Kara exclaimed, running a hand through her honey-like hair.

               Eve waved off Kara’s concerns, “No, she won’t mind.”  


“She hasn’t even hired me and I’m already costing her more money.”

               “We can easily clean it up, it’s alright, trust me.” Eve gingerly stepped from behind the counter, trying not to stand on the remaining parts of the vase. She returned from the back room with two dustpans and brushes. Kara had insisted on cleaning the shards herself, but Eve refused, telling her it would be quicker if they did it together.

               Once the floor was cleaned, and the taller blonde’s shock wore off, Kara fumbled with her purse and handed her credit card over to Eve. “Would you be able to charge it to this?”

               Eve shook her head, “Kara, don’t be silly, it’s just a vase; Lena really won’t mind.”  


               “Please.”

               Eve sighed, “Fine.” After following the woman’s wishes, she reluctantly handed Kara back the receipt, silently reminding herself to tell Lena to reimburse her.

\---

               When Lena returned with three boxes of red velvet cupcakes, the sweet scent filled the store just as much as the echo of the bell above the door. The dark-haired woman placed the boxes onto the top of the counter, smiling at Kara and Eve. She quickly noticed that there was something amiss with the store, and asked where the vase had gone, and whether someone had finally bought it.

               Kara and Eve exchanged a quick glance, “I bought it!” Kara exclaimed, receiving a worried look from the shorter blonde woman.

               The brunette’s eyes narrowed toward the waste bin, before meeting Kara’s face again, “ _You_ bought the vase, which is now broken, well- shattered into pieces and in the bin.” Lena asked questionably.

               “Yep!” Kara smiled, digging out the receipt from her pocket to show Lena, “I just dropped it when I tried to take it to the back room.”

               Lena’s eyes darted between the two women in front of her, she didn’t believe Kara’s story, and the way Eve chewed on her lower lip was enough to tell her that they manifested it between them. She laughed to herself, clearing the tension in the room, “Don’t worry about it, it’s not the first time it’s been broken. I can order you another one.”

               _Not an antique then, thank god for that_. Kara let out the breath she had been holding and grinned, “Really? Are you sure? I mean that’s such a relief-” her eyes widened at the words that had escaped her own mouth, “not that I’ve got anything to be relieved about, I just really liked that vase, but-”

               “Great! Well I brought cupcakes; red velvet as requested.” Lena opened the boxes, revealing red cupcakes with small swirls of perfectly piped cream cheese frosting on the top, decorated with some of the red velvet crumbs. The attention to the small details made Kara think they looked exactly like they would if they had left a professional bakery.

               After the women placed the cupcakes into the glass stand, sneaking one each, they talked amongst themselves as they ate the desserts. Lena had told Kara she was more than welcome to leave early if she wanted to, and when she made sure there was nothing else she was needed for, she left, with an invitation to return, also if she wanted to, so that they could formally sign contracts. Once the blonde woman had agreed to return as soon as possible, she also tried to take one of the red velvet cupcakes home, mentally dedicating it to Eliza. Lena had refused to agree to Kara’s insistence to pay for it, and instead, she swiftly placed it into a small plastic tub for her to take home, and Kara left the two women with a kind goodbye. Although the day hadn’t gone exactly as she had hoped, and she’d already cost the woman who would now be her new boss enough money, Kara couldn’t help but think about how comfortable and right it was to be back in Midvale. A part of her felt the same even in that store, thinking _maybe this actually could work_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be updating both fics very soon!!!
> 
> Come say hi on twitter if you like! I'm @outislanders


	4. Paper Trails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This has taken me forever to update bc I haven't been too happy with my writing quality lately but here it is since I'd spend years scrutinising it if I could lmao  
> Also it's a lil short since I've split chapter 4 and 5 up instead

               Lena had spent the early morning dusting the various shelves throughout the store, a thin layer of dust quickly appeared with the constant movement of people. Each time she would swipe at one of the shelves with the bright yellow cloth she carried, the dust would mingle in the low morning sun and immediately fall to a small pile on the ground, eventually making it much easier for her to vacuum. Mornings like this had become her favourite, before the store was open, where she could watch the sun rise along the horizon and feel the warmth that accompanied it slowly fill the store. It was quiet enough for her to sort out the busy thoughts that had constantly plagued her mind and dedicate her time to other matters that also needed her attention. Perhaps it was the act of cleaning that she found more relaxing; being able to physically clean and right something that was once a mess and somewhat disordered, even when she couldn’t do that for herself. Recently, with the drastic changes in her personal life and subsequent growth of her family, she had found herself humming when she would clean. The tunes were usually songs she had remembered from her childhood when her mother would sing to herself, sometimes in Irish, and Lena tried to make sense of the words whilst listening to the melodic voice from another room.

               Once she had finished cleaning and flipped the sign on the front door to show the shop was open, the dark-haired woman had been remained sitting in the back room, as the store had been empty for the majority of the morning. She had busied herself with checking the updated New York Time’s Best Sellers list so that she could familiarise herself with which books to stock. With her new employee sharing her interest in books, she surmised that there may be more residents throughout Midvale who would be interested in any of the new releases with their high ratings, rather than the older classics that were already in the store and usually acted as compulsory reading material during school. She wasn’t one for cell phones as much as she used to be, only voluntarily giving her number to those closest to her, which meant less than a handful of people, and using it when she needed to quickly research something when she was away from her laptop. Upon hearing the chime of the bell above the door, she quickly returned to the store, shoving her phone into the pocket of her jeans. “Hi, Kara! It’s nice to see you again. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

               Kara’s eyes darted away and immediately met the bright green eyes of the woman in front of her again. The absence of what Lena quickly  deemed her usual contented demeanour swiftly changed to one filled with worry, “You’re not going to fire me already, are you?”

               “No, of course not!” Lena folded her arms, “I- I just wanted to give you the money back for the vase.”

               “Oh,” Kara laughed, “that’s very, very kind of you but it’s totally fine.”

               “I was going to transfer it to your bank account when I’d pay you, but if you prefer cash-”

               “I’d much rather work it off,” the blonde interrupted, slowly nodding to herself.

               “Okay.” Lena replied, knowing any other attempt would be declined and that she’d reimburse Kara regardless, likely through a bonus at some point.

               “Do you need me to work straight away today?” Kara fiddled with the cuffs of her shirt, “I don’t really have anything else to do.”

               “The day after tomorrow would be great, which is a-” she shrugged, and rubbed at the small bit of exposed skin above her dark, loosely fitted v-neck sweater as she thought, “we’re not overly busy as you can tell, and I haven’t sorted the papers out yet.”

               Kara’s eyes narrowed, “If you’re sure-”

               Lena gave Kara a curt nod, “I am.”

               Kara headed for the door and paused with her hand positioned on the handle, “I need to give you my contact details.”

               “Right-” Lena dug a piece of scrap paper from under the counter as the blonde returned to the front of the store, torn in various places with one side covered in illegible scribbles, “here.”

               “Can I- uh-” Kara’s eyes darted to the pen behind the counter and back to the brunette, “can I borrow your pen?”

               “Of course!” Lena handed her the pen with a tight-lipped smile.

               “Thanks.” Kara wrote her name, as if Lena didn’t already know, slowly printing each of the letters, and the number for both her cell phone and the landline for the family home where she was staying, as well as the address. Midvale was small enough for everyone to at least know someone who knew the person that someone else was looking for, but Kara thought the address was necessary regardless. There was a slight luminescent roughness to the skin on her hands, as if the blonde woman had recently spent a lot of time in the sun; _of course she did_ , _she would’ve spent time in the desert_ , Lena observed with a small frown. Oblivious to the other woman’s scrutiny, Kara pushed the piece of paper towards Lena and placed the pen gently down next to it.

               Lena’s eyes met Kara’s, as if both women were waiting for the other to say something. “Thanks… one second!” Lena held her hand up in a motion that said _wait_ , and rushed to the back room, with Kara’s confused gaze following her movements. She swiftly returned with a cloth tote bag in hand, “You forgot your vase,” with another small smile, she handed the bag to Kara.

               Unsure of whether the owner was pulling an elaborate joke, she didn’t know whether to laugh or not. Kara chose the latter, “You should’ve just left it in the bin-”

               “I don’t know,” she lightly shrugged again, gesturing toward the bag, “some people like the creative side of broken things. You could make a mosaic or something if you’re interested. Or just throw it out – it’s your call.”

               Kara peeked into the cloth tote bag, greeted by the shimmering pieces that effortlessly reflected the light, “I might do something with it...”

               Upon realising that the other woman seemed less than convinced to make use of the broken vase, Lena decided she might enjoy hearing a story. “It’s kind of like what the Japanese do with broken bowls and pottery, _kintsugi_.”

               “Really? What does that mean?” Kara quizzed, a look of amazement in her eyes.

               “If something breaks, then they repair the cracks and pieces together with gold; which in turn creates a new piece of art. In their culture, it’s sort of an understanding that whatever has been broken will always be more beautiful than it already it was. So instead of trying to hide what’s been broken-”

               “They highlight it even more,” Kara finished accidentally, drumming her fingers on the handle of the bag.

               “Exactly. As a way to show that the beauty was always there, and even though it may be a little broken, and somewhat imperfect, the beauty can always be found again – an acceptance of change and a belief in resilience.”

               “I really admire that,” Kara beamed; in her mind she had already likened the idea to the scar on the side of her abdomen, _imperfect but beautiful_ , she thought.

               “Me too.”

               After she thanked Lena for telling her that story, a quick goodbye, and another promise to return to the store again, Kara left, savouring the ringing of the bell above the door behind her. Kara held her hand up to her forehead, silently reminding herself to get a new pair of sunglasses as she left the store. She smiled at the stranger as she rounded the corner toward the pier.

               “Hi, are you the new girl?”

               The blonde woman stopped at the question, slowy walking closer to the man. “You tell me-”

               “Kara, right?” He placed the large cardboard box he was holding onto the ground and held out his hand. “I’m Jack, a friend of Lena’s.”

               “Hi, Jack, I’m Kara.” She said, shaking his hand. He was much taller than Kara, and his dark hair was slicked back just enough so that he didn’t resemble a character from _Grease_. There was a hint of an accent when he spoke, which Kara surmised was likely British.

               Jack laughed at the repeat of her name, “How did the trial go?”

               Kara let out a self-conscious laugh, “Not good, I don’t think I know what I’m doing.” The blonde woman thought that Jack was likely another employee, since he seemed to be carrying more items to restock the shelves or helping out in the store like Eve whilst Lena searched for a more permanent solution.

               Jack shrugged, “It’s all a learning step, isn’t it? It’s only been one week-”

               She ran a hand through her honey-like hair, tucking a stray strand behind her ear. “Who knows?”

               “I’d hire you,” Jack quickly replied, smiling.

               Kara’s eyes lit up, “Thank you, that means a lot-”

               “Even if it _is_ just selling some basic items, you seem great. I’ll put in a good word.”

               The blonde woman had already been promised by the owner to sign papers, so she didn’t necessarily need Jack to do that for her, but she certainly appreciated it and his kindness all the same. After saying goodbye, Kara finally left the store and its surroundings and headed straight home.

 

\---

 

               Kara had walked back to her home with the clattering of the broken frame becoming louder with each step that she took. A part of her wondered if she were making the shards shatter into smaller pieces with the increasing volume. It wasn’t that she needed a broken vase which was now in what could only be described as a million pieces, she didn’t, and no one in their right mind would’ve taken it back, but Kara wanted to leave the store as quickly as she could rather than remember how she had already messed up at her new part-time job. Regardless, Lena’s suggestion for Kara to make something seemed like a great idea and it also meant that the vase could be repurposed and wouldn’t be wasted, which was an added bonus.

               Once she returned home, the blonde woman had raided the contents of the garage. She sifted through the various boxes, none of which had been labelled. A part of her wished she still had the bicycle she used to own when she was younger, but she had given it to a family friend when she first left Midvale. It would’ve speeded her trips to the store and likely the town square which Kara still hadn’t allowed herself to visit, in case she ran into the people she had known from her childhood. After dodging numerous spiders of varying sizes that she believed should most _definitely_ be paying rent, and at least a decade’s worth of dust, she eventually brought a small hammer, gloves, and eyeglasses back into the house with her. She had taken one of the empty photo frames that had always been at the bottom of her wardrobe as well and returned to the kitchen table and laid out everything in front of herself. Once she had tipped the contents of the bag onto the table, she sifted through the pieces until she found ones that were of different sizes and shades of turquoise and started to place them onto the frame. For the smaller gaps, Kara knew the hammer would come in handy, hoping she wouldn’t make too much of a mess or any mistakes when she’d inevitably need to smash the vase even further.

               “What have you got there? A jigsaw?” Eliza asked, peering over her daughter’s shoulder.

               Kara jumped at the slight interruption, unsure of how much time she had spent scrutinising her work, and returned her mother’s confusion with a sheepish grin. She pushed the clear glasses onto the top of her head, “It’s a vase- well it _was_ a vase, I thought about making it into a photo frame.” The younger blonde’s brow furrowed, eyeing the mess in front of her, “At least that’s what I’m trying to do with it.”

               “It looks lovely so far.” Eliza draped her white lab coat over one of the kitchen chairs and set the kettle to boil. She turned to Kara as she leaned against the kitchen counter, “Speaking of photos…” Kara sharply inhaled, a nagging feeling in her stomach knowing where the conversation would lead. “Have you told Lena about that photo yet?”

               “Not yet, but I will.”

               Eliza nodded, for now it was enough, “Do you want some tea?”

               “Please.”

               Eliza set the kettle to boil and placed the tea bags into the mugs with small matching floral designs. She poured the boiling water into each of the separate mugs and left the tea to seep for a couple of minutes. Returning to lean against the marble counters, Eliza watched Kara as she worked, her smile brightening each time she triumphantly glued one of the shards onto the wooden frame. She quickly returned with a cup of green tea for herself and placed a cup of jasmine tea in front of her daughter.

 

\---

 

               Jack walked into the store, heading straight for the back room where he knew Lena would be, as she wasn’t flicking through one of the interior design magazines that she claimed to dislike at the counter, which she normally did around lunchtime. He leaned on the doorframe, his familiar cologne announcing his entrance. The dark-haired woman was hunched over papers, furiously writing.

               Lena immediately stopped and relaxed into her chair as she turned around, “Are you here to tell me you were right about me needing the help for the store?”

               Jack laughed, “So, are you going to hire the girl permanently?”

               Lena sighed, realising they had obviously run into each other and that Jack loved to talk more than anything, with his accent usually charming people in an instant. “Any shifts would be temporary.”

               “Well why is that?” He crossed his arms, the material of his dark button-up pulling at his shoulders, “Does she only want a part-time job?”

               “Yes but- no, she’s a little…” Lena’s words trailed off. “Odd,” she finally said aloud. “I don’t know, there’s something different about her, and I’m an _excellent_ judge of character.” To the dark-haired woman, it seemed as if Kara’s story were a little _too_ put together. As if she had orchestrated the entire thing herself. Whether or not she believed Kara’s story, she wasn’t sure. In her mind, she couldn’t quite fully grasp what she was told – that the woman was on leave from the military, resides in National City but chose to return to Midvale to visit family _and_ seek a part-time job. Truthfully, on some level, it was perfectly understandable, especially if Kara’s reasons were wholly family oriented as Lena hadn’t had that desire to be around her own, but something was still slightly different. If she was telling the truth, she was strange, and if everything she said was a lie, she chose very strange and peculiar lies. Either way, she hoped Jack could make sense of it. “Who comes back here after living in National City for a job at a small store without any type of experience?”

               “Someone who is running from something,” Jack made a point to comically scratch his beard in thought, and his eyes brightened as if he had immediately reached a conclusion, brightened, “basically, someone like you?”

               Lena scoffed, “Thanks.”

               “I spoke to her on the way out, she seems perfectly nice.” He lowered his voice even though they were the only two people in the room, “I think you’re being a little too paranoid.”

               Ignoring the last few words Jack spoke, Lena continued, “Yeah, she does, but I really don’t know. What did you say to her?”

               “I told her that if it was up to me, I would have given her the job.”

               “That’s fair enough, I suppose. But-”

               Jack moved to perch on the corner of the table, next to the paperwork Lena was filling out. “She seems capable, and trustworthy, and you need the help.”

               “You didn’t meet her to begin with. And besides, you’re going home in a few days, it’s my store.”

               “Hey! I’ve only been here a few weeks; you can’t that be sick of me already!”

               Lena laughed, “She broke that vase, you know.”

               “Ah, the same vase you threw at me when I told you that you should be relaxing at home instead of on your feet which _then_ meant you had to buy another one?” Jack shrugged, “I like her already.”

               Kara seemed more than friendly enough, and being related to Eliza, Lena instinctively knew she could trust her, whether she truly wanted to or not. However, the dark-haired woman wanted, _needed_ someone to agree with the smallest part of her that felt as if any contact with someone in the same career as her would be the most traitorous decision of her life, even if she were just hiring the woman as an employee. “She was- well _is_ , in the military-”

               Jack’s dark eyes caught Lena’s almost luminous ones, a look of pain flickering over his face as he remembered the entirety of the last few months, as well as the toll it had taken on his friend. “And that’s why you’re against it?”

               Lena chewed on the inside of her cheek, “Kind of,”

               Jack sighed, “Lena, you can’t let that-”

               Lena fiddled with the thin plastic cap from her pen, dismissing her friend’s words, “Yeah, I know.” She released a deep sigh, rolling back her shoulders as she straightened her posture. “Well, it’s just being around that kind of environment again, you know. In any way, I just don’t want to-”

               “You can’t not hire someone based on their military career.”

               “It just brings all of those memories back.” Lena sighed, shaking her head, as she fiddled with her hands. “It doesn’t matter anyway, I’ve already kind of given her the job and there’s no way I would feel comfortable in firing her. It’d be like hurting a puppy.”

               Jack released a sharp breath from his nose, “I get what you mean.”

 

\---

 

               After Eliza’s help had been declined, she sat opposite her daughter, reading a medical journal, as was her usual choice of literature when they were newly published. A few times when Kara would break the silence with a sigh and chew on her lower lip, Eliza would voluntarily help her choose which pieces to place where, as well as having to place a small band-aid on Kara’s middle finger when she chose to abandon her thick gloves, with the belief that they made everything much more difficult to hold, especially the finer details that she fussed over the most.

               “How does it look?” Kara asked, a triumphant smile on her lips as she held the frame up.

               The frame had different shades of turquoise throughout, with Kara trying to recreate her favourite view of the ocean in the early mornings, and the pieces with god trim had been place toward the edges, with a thin layer of white grout throughout. “It’s beautiful,” Eliza replied. She loved seeing her daughter enjoy something creative again. The younger blonde had always loved to draw and paint when she was younger, but slowly fell out of love with it as her patience with both the mediums and herself began to dwindle. “Have you thought about which photo to put in the frame? You could put one of the ones you took in Southport into it.”

               Kara smiled, pleased with herself and how the frame turned out, “I might. I haven’t decided yet, whatever it is, it has to be just right.”

 

\---

 

               Kara didn’t mind stopping by the store so much as it allowed her to leave the house, and provided her with an excuse to get some fresh air and more than anything, she loved the sounds of the ocean more so when she was closest to it. As she slowly strolled closer to the store, she told herself that the flaking paint on the outside was an eyesore, and demanded her attention, perhaps a lighter shade of the already existing air force blue if the owner allowed. She also picked up a couple of stray plastic bottles that had been carelessly discarded on the wooden pier and placed it into a recycle bin as she rounded the corner to the shop.

               “Kara! With the amount of times you’re stopping by, I’m going to have to ask you to buy something one day.”

               “Hi! Oh- should I?” The taller woman spun in a slow circle, with her eyes roaming the shelves as she thought of groceries she or Eliza might need, “I could do with a cold drink I suppose.”

               “I’m kidding, Kara,” the brunette deadpanned.

               Kara fiddled with the leg of her glasses, “I just wanted to check-”

               Lena nodded, “I’ve got your number, Kara.”

               After hearing her name, _Kara_ , each time the other woman spoke, it began to lose its meaning in a way; like when she would read a book with the same word over and over again and question whether it really was a word to begin with. “You weren’t going to call, were you?” She asked, accompanied with a furrowed brow allowing Lena to see the small crinkle that appeared just above her nose.

               Lena pinched the bridge of her own nose, looking up at expectant eyes. “I told you to stop by, Kara.” The dark -haired woman shook her head, “You don’t need to worry. You’re practically already hired, and I’ve got everything ready for you to fill out, pen included.”

               Kara’s eyebrows rose, a look of surprise written on her face. “Really? Are you sure?” Her voice lowered as she spoke from one corner of her mouth through gritted teeth, “I know I broke that vase and ate most of the snacks but-”

               Lena tried to ignore the mention of the food Kara had eaten, but instead, she remembered how she couldn’t find the cereal bar she wanted earlier at lunch, “You ate my-” she rested her head on her hand, “I can buy some more and I’ve already got your vase ordered,” her left eyebrow rose, “which _I’ll_ deliver to _you_.”

               Kara laughed, pushing her glasses up once more, “I guess I can’t be trusted with anything valuable just yet.”

               Once Kara had finished filling in the paperwork, with Lena mentioning that any hours which are contracted, which were a total of forty-eight, were up to negotiation depending on Kara herself, she provided her with additional verifications of her identity, as well as her social security number. At the rate Lena suggested, she would earn well over what she did monthly in the military. Although the finances weren’t at the forefront of the new employee’s mind, it was still nice for her to have that further security, and with that, maybe move closer to the centre of town and out from under her mother’s feet if she were to remain in Midvale for the duration of her granted leave.

               Lena’s eyes quickly scanned the paperwork that Kara had filled out, flicking through each of the sheets and making sure that she had signed the lines that required her signature, as well as dating each of the pieces of paper. As soon as she was content, she returned the other woman’s gaze with a smile, “I think that’s all I need from you. So, if you’re still free tomorrow, I’ll see you at nine?”

               Kara beamed, waving to Lena as she left, “Great! See ya tomorrow, boss!” And when Lena watched her walk out of the store when the small bell above the door chimed, she couldn’t help but feel like she had made a reasonable decision, or that was what she had decided to tell herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on twitter or tumblr if you like! I'm @outislanders


	5. New Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's eight days until we get to meet saskia and I may have downloaded too many vpn's for it sjsksk, I also think this is the most I've been writing in the past few weeks because my love of lover gives me so much motivation lmao or maybe it's because idk when to shut up who knows

               The morning dawned with the usual crystalline skies, but soon clouds began to roll in. Grey and thick, they swirled and twisted, carried by the building force of the wind. When Lena woke that morning, she pulled a dark, woollen peacoat from her closet, brushing the lint off of it from the last time that she had worn it. Despite residing on the same stretch of beach where the store was located, it was still a lengthy half an hour’s drive for her, so much so that when she left in darkness, by the time she made it to work, the sun was either well risen or was just about to rise that she could savour the deep honey hue that its rays painted the vast row of pine trees that lined her drive.

               After slamming her car door shut, Lena fiddled with the keys to the store, slowly sauntering to the front door. She was greeted by the silhouette of her new employee hunched over another book. “You’re always here much earlier than I am,” she observed.

               Kara shrugged, closing her book and using her index finger as a temporary bookmark. “I like the walk.”

               “Is it far for you?”

               “Not really, but I’m thinking a bike might be better for the summer or I’ll end up a mess when it gets warmer.” Kara giggled more so to herself than the other woman.

               “Yeah, a bike might be a good idea.” The brunette agreed.

               A low rumble of thunder interrupted them both. Kara raised her head, and her eyes scanned the threatening grey clouds along the horizon where the water met the sky. “There’s a storm coming.”

               “I prefer storms…” Instead of continuing the usual small talk that had accompanied their morning meetings when the blonde would be sitting at the picnic benches, her head buried in a fictional land, the owner went straight to the front door and unlocked it with a small click. “Best come inside if you don’t want to get caught in the rain,” she called back.

               Although the owner had meant it as more of a passing comment, and not anything in relation to asking her employee to come to work, Kara followed Lena into the store regardless. Her thought process was that as long as she kept her head down for as long as she could, and worked well enough, it would eventually be too late to fire her.

               The rains had held off until around noon, when the heavy clouds released torrents of droplets that ricocheted and danced off the roof. The sounds grew louder by the second, leaving both women to complete the most menial everyday tasks, as many residents of the small town, despite the familiarity with storms, often refused to leave their homes during one.

               The blonde woman was running an inventory of some of the household goods. She was about to write the number of shampoo bottles on the shelf until a drop of water fell on the page, causing the black ink to bleed into a grey murkiness. Kara looked up to the ceiling, wincing when another droplet landed on her forehead as the heavy rain exposed inconsistencies and damaged sections of the roof. She wiped it away with a frown. Her voice was nearing a shout to be heard over the downpour that made the inside of the store sound like a tin can. “Have you got a bucket?”

               Lena was already making her way to where Kara was standing in the store. “For what?”

               Kara gestured with her head toward the ceiling, “Your roof is leaking.”

               The brunette’s eyes followed her movements, and clenched her jaw, “There’s a surprise.” Lena’s hands fell to her hips, “I swear, most contractors are nothing short of useless.”

               The owner disappeared to the back room where Kara could hear small thuds and the slam of a cupboard door. She returned with a large plastic paint tub, luckily without the paint inside, and placed it onto the floor in front of Kara, who adjusted its position and centred it perfectly when more drops fell.

               Kara thought of joking with the women’s previous mention of her preference to storms, but instead, she bypassed the thought, unsure of whether she’d get fired on the spot or not. “I can fix it for you, if you want.”

               “Don’t worry about it-”

               “I’m more than happy to when the storm passes.”

               The little kindness surprised Lena more than she expected, and she briefly stumbled over words as they left her mouth. “A- Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out-”

               The lack of judgement or confusion from the owner with the mention that a woman could easily fix something a man would stereotypically do made Kara smile, “I work for you, it’s kind of included in the job description.”

               “Fixing roofs wasn’t.”

               “Didn’t you read the fine print on the contract?” She fiddled with the leg of her glasses, “It said it right there at the bottom.”

               “Funny.” Lena’s eyes met the blue of Kara’s, noticing the way small flecks of lighter, almost icy tones illuminated more so in the dimming light. “Um- thank you so much. Just let me know what you need, and I’ll get it.”

               A serious expression appeared on Kara’s face, as she jutted her chin out slightly. The woman tapped the clipboard with the pen in her hands, released an irritated breath and grinned, “A ladder, definitely.”

               Lena rolled her eyes and walked off with a small smile. “Write it down!” She called back.

 

\---

 

               The next day, Kara wasn’t needed at the store as early. With a mention of deliveries the day before, the owner had told her there was no need for Kara to waste her morning. Rather than taking advantage of that fact and remaining in bed until well after nine in the morning, Kara thought she may as well keep herself busy. So, instead, she focused on cleaning her own home. She vacuumed the wooden floors, and dusted in forgotten corners, savouring the lemon-scented polish that Eliza always favoured. After she was content with her own work, she showered and decided to make her way to the store to see if Lena needed help unpacking the boxes and loading the items onto the shelves she _still_ hadn’t managed to memorise. With the small break in the weather, she thought she would be able to examine the roof too.

               The blonde woman arrived at the store, and when she walked in, her eyes scanned the room for Lena. Instead, she was met by Jack.

               “Kara, how nice to see you again. I don’t have to hide the valuables, do I?” Jack joked.

               Kara laughed, realising the other two women had been gossiping; she could listen to him talk all day with that accent. “No, no, they’re safe from me today.”

               He returned Kara’s bright smile, “Good to know. What can I do for you?”

               “I was just hoping to see Lena.”

               A flicker of confusion passed over Jack’s face. “She isn’t here today, she’s at home.”

               “Can you-” Kara was cut off by the phone ringing. She breathed a sigh of relief, unsure of what she was even going to ask of Jack.

               Jack gave Kara an apologetic smile and picked up the flimsy plastic phone that sat on one side of the counter next to the register. “Hello?”

               _“Hi, Jack, it’s just me. I still need those documents for the accounts.”_ Lena said.

               “Do you need them right now or-” Jack began.

               _“Unless_ you’re _going to balance the books.”_

               Jack let out a small chuckle, knowing the exact expression on Lena’s face, with a trademark eyebrow raised in a challenge. “Always a charmer. I’m still waiting on a delivery,” his dark eyes fell to the blonde woman who was surveying the books by the counter, hoping there would be a new one she hadn’t read. “Kara’s here, she could bring them.”

               _“Uh- yeah… that’d be great if she could, make sure to ask her before you-”_ Jack removed the phone from his ear, interrupting Lena’s words.

               “Hey, Kara?”

               Kara’s eyes remained fixed on the blurb of one of the books, “Yep, I’m more than happy to do anything you guys need.”

               “Great.” His attention shifted back to the phone, “Kara will bring them through.”

               _“Thanks.”_ Jack heard a small beep on the other side of the phone and placed the receiver back down with an audible click of the plastic.

               Kara returned the book she was surveying to its original position on the small shelf. “Where am I going?”

               “She lives just off of the corner of Edgewater and Park.” Jack gestured with his hands whilst he gave wordless directions to Kara. Once he noticed the small frown on her face, he kept his arms fixed tightly to his side, “Do you know where that is?”

               “Yeah but- are you sure that’s the right place? It’s pretty much deserted around there.”

               Jack shrugged, “That’s why she likes it.”

               After receiving a thick envelope of papers, Kara shoved it into the satchel that hung at her side. The top of the envelope peeked through a crack where the bag was unable to fasten at the top. She started the short walk home, feeling the chill of the passing storm, and her lips moving in a silent prayer that she wouldn’t get caught outside in one of Midvale’s infamous April showers. The steady rhythm of her footfalls sent her mind wandering. Kara found her thoughts drifting to National City, and ultimately back to Mike. Despite the overwhelming hate she now harboured for him, the woman couldn’t be certain that she would refuse another chance if he were to turn up in her hometown and apologise. She moved her bag onto her other shoulder, there was no real reason that she would think of him, but being without the most simple, usual items in her home like her favoured vanilla or lavender scented candles that burned each night, and filled the loft with a sweet aroma made her feel homesick for a place she no longer really knew.

 

\---

 

               By the time she arrived home, Eliza was already in the kitchen and making a start on dinner. Kara thought she could get used to the smell of onions browning and the immediate heat that warmed her skin when she walked through the door. Even without a real place to call home, for now, this was enough.

               Kara gave her mother a quick hug, “Hey, Eliza- could I borrow the car please?”

               Eliza turned back to the pan of onions on the stove, “Of course, you don’t need to ask.”

               “I just didn’t know if you would need it tonight, I’ve got to drop off some papers.”

               “I don’t. Just drive carefully please!”

               “I always do,” Kara protested with a light huff.

               Eliza turned and met her daughter’s eyes, a smile forming on her lips. “If you need me to remind you of the time you and Alex went for ice cream when you first passed your driving test, I can.” Once Kara was officially allowed to drive the roads of Midvale by herself, the two sisters had decided that they would visit the ice cream stall close to the centre of town. Although Kara had been driving well below the speed limit, much to Alex’s surprise that she could _maybe_ drive, everything changed when she took a left into the parking lot. She grazed the side of the stall which was a simple accident, minimal damage, but when she put the car into reverse, despite Alex’s protests, and backed into the stall which caused the sign to fall on top of the car and resulted in a summer’s worth of free labour at Kara’s insistence, to pay back both the owner and Eliza for the damages. Since then, she has not been trusted to drive despite almost a decade’s worth of experience.

               Kara waved off her mother’s concerns, “That was an accident, who even puts an ice cream stall so close to the parking lot?”

               “You’ve been going there since you were a child!”

               Kara giggled, “I better go before it gets too late.” She collected the keys from the bowl by the door and called back to Eliza before she left, “Love you.”

               “Love you too, sweetie.”

 

\---

 

               Kara followed the long, winding path of endless pine trees that lined the single road to Lena’s home. For a brief moment, she had expected the road to abruptly end which would result in her driving off of the edge of a cliff like the most famous scene in _Thelma & Louise_. Although, it would be into the ocean, so not _exactly_ the same. Instead, she drove for around an extra fifteen minutes until she eventually saw the top of a dark slate roof and the home that resembled a farmhouse style fused with a beach house, looking a little like her own childhood home.

               The wooden siding was painted a pale seafoam green, with white trim and matching shutters hanging by the windows, with a lawn that was in desperate need of being maintained. It reminded the woman of her first understanding of the store as a site of organised chaos, likely making sense to the one who lived there, rather than a passing visitor. Kara left the car on the side of the road, she was momentarily overwhelmed with the size of the home for a single person, but in reality, she didn’t know anything about the woman who lived there to craft any sense of opinion. She inhaled the briny scent of the sea air, hearing the distant crashes of waves, immediately knowing the narrow stretch of beach that surrounded the house would have one of the most beautiful views in town. She walked up the paved driveway, the low heels of her shoes clicking with each of her steps and up onto the wrap around porch and knocked on the bright white door, noticing the peeling paint that matched the store whilst she waited. _Maybe another job to add to the list_ , she thought.

               Once the door opened, the blonde quickly surveyed the look in the other woman’s eyes. Heavy circles were deeply ingrained in both, with them appearing to be rubbed red raw, whether from a lack of sleep or crying, she was unsure. The woman also seemed to be smaller as she stood in the doorway, slightly leaning against the edge of the door. She was dressed in a light grey MIT t-shirt with a chunky knitted dark cardigan and even in the similar sweaters that Kara had seen her with at the store, she couldn’t help but think about how casual she looked. The dark-haired woman’s exhausted expression swiftly changed to one of surprise, “Kara-” Lena quickly crossed her arms, her eyes darting from her employee to the space behind her and back again. “What are- what are you doing here?”

               The taller woman's brow furrowed, “You were on the phone to Jack and-”

               Lena’s shoulders fell, “Fuck,” she quietly cursed to herself. “The papers, of course,” she lightly shook her head, “sorry, I forgot.”

               “Just doing my job,” Kara replied with a lopsided grin, her voice softened, “I don’t blame you; it took me a little longer to get here than expected.”

               “With the car, I thought you were someone else-”

               Kara shifted her weight on either foot, her hands finding their way into her pockets searching for extra warmth. “It’s uh- it’s my mom’s car.”

               “Yes-” Lena’s words were interrupted by the shrieking cry of a baby, making both of them jump slightly. “Could you just excuse me for a minute.” She turned on her heels and padded out of view leaving the blonde woman standing outside in the doorway. Lena peeked her head around the corner, “You can come inside… if you want,” the brunette mumbled with her gaze in Kara’s general direction and disappeared again.

               Kara nodded to herself, and stepped onto the beautifully polished walnut flooring, her tan loafers squeaking as she did so. She was immediately hit by the welcoming sweet scent of vanilla and a subtle hint of freesias that enveloped the home. She stood in the hallway savouring the familiarity of it for a brief moment. After gently closing the door behind her to keep the warmth inside, Kara hovered awkwardly in the doorway waiting for Lena. Rather than risk covering the floors in muddy footprints, she carefully removed her shoes and placed them neatly on the rack next to a pair of dazzling onyx stiletto heels.

               Lena walked into the room with what looked like a small bundle of cream coloured knitted blankets between her arms. Kara’s eyes grew wide. Despite hearing the cry, she didn’t expect Lena would have a child, and she hadn’t mentioned any partner, not that she _would’ve_ , but the blonde assumed the other woman was just babysitting. In truth, she didn’t look like she had just had a baby. She wore sweaters a lot, sure, but even Kara knew it was a cold spring when the breeze would pick up.

               Lena let out a small laugh, when she caught Kara standing awkwardly in the entryway, “You can sit down, you know.”

               Kara nodded and moved to sit on the pale grey Chesterfield in the living room, perching slightly on the edge of one side. It gave her an opportunity to appreciate the home. The majority of her attention fell to the back window that gave way to a wall of glass that showcased the view and what appeared to be a wooden deck. Although the hazy drizzle had obscured it, the woman knew her first thought of the view being nothing short of magnificent was right. It looked fresh from a catalogue, _modern rustic_ , Kara heard her mind say as if she were on a _HGTV_ show. She scanned the room for a personal touch that didn’t suggest a hired designer chose it. The room gave away nothing, and it seemed as if someone had copied and pasted it into the space. A few pieces of artwork hung on the wall that were beautifully coloured, with some of them being depictions of unfamiliar landscapes. Kara supposed they were only included to break up the starkness of the white walls. There were no family photos, no knitted blankets draped over the back of the sofa like Kara was used to, no long-forgotten empty drinking glasses. Nothing.

               She noticed the stack of baby books _just_ balancing enough to one side of the dark wooden coffee table, adorned with multicoloured post-it notes and ineligible scribbles as if someone had been studying for a quiz in parenting. A folded pair of glasses rested on top of the books, with one of the yellow post-it notes stuck to one of the legs. _At least there’s_ something _personal_ , Kara thought to herself.

               The blonde removed the large envelope from her worn satchel and placed it to the other side of the coffee table and set her bag on the floor by her feet.

               “Sorry about the mess-”

               A sheepish smile appeared on Kara’s face, realising her pondering was anything but subtle. She shook her head, “There isn’t one.”

               Lena’s face beamed, and the exhaustion Kara saw a few moments ago seemed to smooth when she introduced her daughter to Kara, “This is Charlotte-” It was Lena’s mothers name. Not that she could remember that fact _explicitly_ , it was what she was told when she was younger, and she had loved the name ever since. But regardless, she chose not to mention that to Kara.

               Kara smiled, _definitely_ not _babysitting_ , and moved closer to Lena, “she’s adorable.” Charlotte seemed to frown looking at Kara, as if she were the one to have purposefully disturbed her sleep. She had the same fierce green eyes as Lena’s and her gaze remained fixed on the woman, with the faintest bit of dark blonde hair visible that Kara surmised would’ve been akin to her father. “How old is she?”

               “Three weeks old.”

               “She’s _so_ small.”

               “Yeah ... you kind of forget you would have ever been that size.” There was a difference to Lena in her own home, she was comfortable, gentler somehow even in the presence of Kara who was still a borderline stranger. The blonde woman noted the continuous smiles that appeared on Lena’s face each time her gaze fell back to her daughter. The sharp chirping of a phone interrupted them. With her free hand, Lena fished her phone from her pocket, the pale blue light illuminating her face, “Do you-” Lena wondered whether to ask Kara to answer the phone or not, she chose the latter, “would you mind holding her for a second?”

               “Of course,” The brunette gently passed the baby to Kara and darted off to one of the other rooms. Lena paused in the corridor and quickly turned and watched Kara slowly sway the baby in her arms for a few moments until the woman looked up and gave her a reassuring smile, “I’m good with children!” Nodding, the brunette left and brought the phone to her face.

               Charlotte weighed barely anything in Kara’s arms, and she couldn’t get over how small she was. The blonde woman gently rocked her between her arms. “Hi,” Kara whispered, running her finger down Charlotte’s cheek. She reached out and held the top of Kara’s finger with her whole hand. Despite knowing that babies almost always had a type of grab reflex when they were younger, she couldn’t help the smile on her face that grew brighter. Following a tiny yawn, the baby released her grip on Kara’s finger and when her blinking became slower and her eyelids heavier, Charlotte quickly fell asleep.

               Lena walked back into the living room looking slightly flustered and red faced, “Sorry about that-”

               “Don’t be, she’s fallen asleep...” Kara’s voice was near an inaudible whisper, “I guess I didn’t make a very good first impression.”

               Lena grinned and slowly shook her head, “No, her falling asleep with you is a good thing! She hasn’t been sleeping properly for a few days.” She relaxed into the soft cushions on the sofa, “What with trust and all that, she must like you!” Lena immediately sat up, and rolled her shoulders, “I’ll put her back in her crib,”

               Kara gently passed Charlotte back to Lena. Walking slower to one of the bedrooms downstairs, she opened the door and dimmed the harsh lights when she reached for the switch. The dark-haired woman gave Charlotte a small kiss on her forehead and placed her back into the little grey wooden bassinet. Lena softly closed the door behind her. On her way back to the living room, an adjacent door opened.

               “Everything okay?” Eve asked.

               “Yeah, go back to sleep, it’s my shift.” Lena replied, adjusting the volume of the small video monitor in her hands.

               Eve nodded; her question directed more so to Lena’s phone call than anything else. “You know where I am if you need me.”

               Lena came back with the monitor and placed it on the coffee table. “Would you like something to drink?” Lena asked.

               “I’m fine, thank you.” Kara quickly remedied the silence that had fallen between them, “You didn’t say you had a daughter-”

               Lena shrugged off Kara’s words, “You didn’t ask.”

               “I suppose not, it’s getting pretty late.” Kara stood, smoothing out the little creases in her jeans. “I better go, I’ll see you later, Lena.”

               “Wait a second, I need to get your bank details too,” Lena said, fiddling with her own phone.

               “Oh, right- of course.” Kara replied, sitting next to Lena again, and opening her phone. She swiped away the numerous notifications of calls and messages on almost every platform imaginable from Alex.

               “I’m so sorry about being so informal about everything-” Lena began.

               “I don’t mind, I hate formalities.”

               Kara opened the notes app on her phone where she kept most of her personal details, regardless of her sister’s constant warning of hackers, and passed her financial information onto Lena. Whilst the owner of the store had been setting up the payroll, they had also agreed for Kara to be paid on a weekly basis every Saturday.

               “Did it work?” Lena asked.

               Kara refreshed the app. “Yep!”

               “Good.”

               The blonde quickly glanced back at her phone, “Your last name is Thorul?” she quizzed.

               Lena froze at Kara’s question and momentarily hesitated. She swallowed thickly, her throat visibly bobbing, “Uh- yes. Thorul is correct.”

               “Is it Greek?” Kara questioned, unaware of the way the other woman’s face began to flush a light shade of pink.

               Lena rubbed the back of her neck, “Mhm. I suppose there must be Greek descent on my fathers’ side…” her hand wafted the air in front of her, “we’re European somewhere down the line.”

               “That’s pretty cool! Should I send the money back?”

               “Treat yourself to something nice.” Lena joked.

               Kara laughed, “The dollar menu at the coffee shop is calling my name already.” She glanced at her small wristwatch, “I better go,” she stood again, and hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. “If you need anything at all- more help with the store, or if you want someone to babysit so you can go out with someone or actually sleep.”

               Lena ran a hand through her dark hair, and sighed. “Are the bags under my eyes really that obvious?”

               “You said it not me,”

               Lena chuckled, “Thank you, Kara.”

               “Of course. Sleep while you can, and if you need anything, just _write it down_!” After receiving a hearty laugh from Lena from the repetition of her on words from the day before, Kara made her way back to the car. She turned the key in the ignition, and once she had fiddled with the headlights, she headed straight home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that was okay!!
> 
> Come say hi on twitter or tumblr if you like! I'm @outislanders on both


	6. Radio Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please excuse any mistakes in formatting, apparently jet lag is real... who knew?

               Startled, Kara instantly woke to the shrill sound of her phone ringing on her bedside table. With a groan, she extended her hand and searched for the phone, knocking her empty glass onto the floor in the process. She winced as she squinted at the harsh light of the screen, and blearily, she swiped to answer.

               _“Kara Danvers, if you don’t pick this phone up the next time I call-”_

               She recognised the cause of the anger in her sister’s voice immediately, knowing she had somehow come to the knowledge that she was currently hiding out in Midvale _and_ ignored all of her calls and constant messages on almost every platform imaginable. “Alex, it’s the middle of the night!” She rolled onto her back and threw the phone to the other side of the bed with the voice on the other end of the phone being much louder than if it were on speaker. “How have you been?”

               _“You’re kidding me?!”_ Devoid of humour, Alex continued, _“You’ve been in National City, you’re home now and you didn’t even think to tell me?!”_

               “I uh-” Kara began.

               _“You what?”_ Alex asked, drumming her fingers lightly on the surface of her own desk as she waited for her sister’s feeble excuse.

               “The phones about to-” Kara cupped her hands around her mouth in an attempt to distort her words, “sorry I can’t- you’re breaking up-”

               _“Kara.”_ Alex replied sternly, the hint of a warning in her voice.

               Knowing there would be no respite and that she couldn’t hang up, Kara immediately stopped, “Fine.”

               _“I’m coming to Midvale next week to see you.”_

               Kara rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “You don’t have to.”

               Alex’s voice lightened, _“If my little sister refuses to see me, then I have to see her.”_

               The blonde sighed, “Do you still have the key to my apartment?”

               _“It’ll be lying around somewhere.”_

               “Can you stop by and bring some things over? I don’t have anything for summer or- or my books-“

               Alex’s brow furrowed, _“You’re not coming back yourself?”_

               “Not for a while.”

               “Yeah, I’ll bring some things through…” Despite the need to know what was wrong, from the manner of her sister’s voice and the absence of her usual upbeat tone, Alex knew to avoid any pressing questions for now. _“Is everything alright?”_

               “Everything’s perfect, I’m gonna go back to sleep-“

               _“Kara, it’s eleven in the morning.”_ Alex said clearly, the worry she was feeling finding its way through the phone. Her sister had always been one to wake earlier, usually for morning runs or to double-check homework due in the next day, and Kara hated lying in bed way past the early morning, citing the waste of an entire day, unless she was ill, or something was wrong.

               Kara’s eyes roamed the dark room for her alarm clock which normally faced her bed. She peeked her head over the side seeing it had somehow made its way to the floor in the middle of the night, whether during another nightmare or once she heard the alarm ringing, she didn’t know. Kara quickly decided that was a problem for later. “Shoot! I’ve got to get to work!”

               _“Work?”_ Alex quizzed.

               “Bye, love you.” Kara turned and instantly disconnected the call before hearing a goodbye from her sister.

               Kara threw the quilt back, showered and dressed in a matter of minutes. With her hair still damp from the shower and pulled into a messy ponytail, she ran down the stairs, buttoning her pale blue shirt as she did so. Kara quickly stepped into her tan loafers and collected the house key whilst pulling the backs out of her shoes. The woman went outside, fumbled with the key, and locked the back door. If there was any moment that Kara was grateful for having to run drills every morning when she was on tour, it was this exact moment. Although the rains had not let up for the last few days, the woman ran to the store, cursing herself for forgetting to wear a raincoat, despite knowing the forecast for the week. Each sheet of rain that hit her exposed skin felt as if she had been plunged into an ice bath with the same freeing feeling of running through a sprinkler as a child on a hot summer’s day.

               When she eventually reached the store, she opened the rickety wooden front door and quickly closed it in search of heat. Instead, she was met by the gentle, cooling breeze of the air conditioning vent above.

               “Kara, where have you-“ Lena surveyed the appearance of the woman in the doorway. She looked as if she had taken a running dive from the pier into the choppy, chilly ocean and surfaced again only to repeat the action. Her blonde hair had taken on a slight chestnut tinge from the rain, and her lower lip was trembling.

               “I- I’m _so_ sorry for being late.” Kara started rambling, with each wild gesture of her hands, she sent small droplets of water flying throughout the store. “I don’t normally set alarms, and I don’t know what time I even when to sleep last night or whether it was actually this morning and-”

               “Hey, don’t be, you’re absolutely drenched.”

               Kara patted the pockets of her jeans, searching for the photo she refused to leave the house without and hoping it hadn’t been ruined in the rain. Satisfied she left it at home, her shoulders dropped. A small shiver ran through Kara’s body, and she tightly tensed her muscles in an attempt to counteract it, “I’m totally fine-”

               Lena went to turn the air conditioning off and the thermostat up. She folded her arms once she returned to the other woman, “I’ll drive you home. You can get some fresh clothes, maybe take a hot bath?”

               Kara removed her rain-splattered glasses and fiddled with the hem of her shirt, searching for a sliver of dry fabric. “I’d rather work-”

               Lena shook her head and gestured for Kara to give her the glasses. For a moment, she took the time to study the colour of the blonde’s eyes. Lena had once thought them to be the vivid colour of the sky on a morning that dawned with fine weather. However, today, Kara’s eyes seemed to reflect the storm outside; flecks of blue swirled with the varying shades of grey akin to the heavy, threatening clouds above. Lena wondered whether it was just the light or something else that caused the subtle change. Disregarding her own thoughts, the shorter woman dried the lenses on her woollen coat and handed them back, “You’ll end up catching a cold, come on.”

               Kara nodded, and Lena swiftly ushered her out of the store. She turned the sign that hung on the glass around, so if any of Midvale’s residents _did_ wish to brave the lashing rain, they would quickly be aware the store was closed. Once she locked the front door, she returned to the taller woman and opened a large, golf umbrella for the two of them. Kara thought there was no need, she was already drenched enough as it was, and any more water wouldn’t make much of a difference, but she appreciated the gesture, nonetheless. They fell into step beside each other, making their way to the brunette’s car that was parked at the back of the store. Lena opened the passenger door for Kara and went to the driver’s side and shook the remaining water from the umbrella and folded it, carelessly throwing it into the backseat. She started the engine, and turned the heating to full blast, moving each of the vents in Kara’s direction, and set the seat warmer on.

               Kara buckled her seatbelt and relaxed into the buttery soft leather of the car seat. “Thank you so much for this, Lena. I really appreciate it.”

               “It’s okay, you live just down on the left, right?”

               “Yeah.”

               Once they had joined the road, they drove in silence; with Kara hunched and still shivering in the front seat and Lena carefully watching the road that seemed to blur and shine brighter with the headlights of passing cars that mingled with the heavy droplets of water that attacked the windshield. The wipers struggled to keep a pace that was quick enough to combat the streams of water than ran down the glass.

               Lena eventually pulled up outside the home and put the car in park. Her attention shifted to the woman sat next to her. “I can bring you a hot drink if you like… maybe some coffee or tea, and you can skip today.”

               “No, no,” the blonde woman shook her head, “I’ll only be a few minutes, and I’ll come straight back.”

               “I can wait out here for you, if you want-”

               Kara slightly turned her head to meet Lena’s eyes, “Do you want to come inside?”

               Lena pulled up her sleeve and glanced at her wristwatch, “That’s okay, call me when you’re ready.”

               “Are you sure?”

               “Of course, I was the one who offered, and I best be getting back to Charlotte.”

               Before Kara left, Lena handed her the smaller umbrella that was usually kept in the dashboard for emergencies. The woman jumped out of the car, and once her feet touched the pavement, she felt the sickening feeling of the remaining stagnant water in her shoes. Kara gave Lena a small wave when she turned toward the house and had left the comforting warmth of the car, receiving a dismissing wave of the hand encouraging her to go inside.

               The blonde woman kicked her shoes off and placed the umbrella on the side table, leaving a trail of wet footprints to the laundry room and removed her clothes and threw them into the tumble dryer. She darted to the upstairs bathroom, put the plug in the bath and ran the hot water tap. Disregarding the temperature and her usual floral bubble bath, she slipped into the water. A small exhale escaped her mouth, her body savouring the scalding heat, and her exposed skin relishing in the steam that radiated from the water. After a few moments, Kara lowered herself further into the bath, allowing the water to lap around her neck. With a small indrawn breath, she plunged her head into the water, blocking the howling whistles of the wind outside that picked up with each passing moment. Kara surfaced, and smoothed her hair back with her hands, _better_.

               No longer feeling the bone-chilling cold, she drained the bath and wrapped herself in one of the fluffy white bath towels that Eliza always insisted were worth the price. Kara dried herself off and quickly dried her hair with the hairdryer, savouring the feeling of the warm air on her scalp. She must have taken less than thirty minutes.

               She picked up the phone and called the store, hoping the owner had returned. Kara had to punch in the number three times before the call eventually connected, and seemingly rang out before Lena answered. After Lena had mentioned that she didn’t expect to hear from her for at least another hour, she told Kara she’d stop at her home within the next ten minutes.

 

\---

 

               Kara was sat on the bottom step of the stairs fastening the laces to her trainers, having to abandon her favourite loafers by the radiator so that they could dry. Although, she was convinced they would have to be thrown away once she had to pour the water that from them down the sink. Following a little knock at the door, and the chime of the doorbell, Kara rose and grabbing the small umbrella from the side table, she opened the door.

               “Hi.” Lena stood with the same umbrella extended, which created a dark halo around her as the rain poured and both of her hands tightly gripped the handle.

               “Oh- I was just going to use this,” Kara brandished the umbrella Lena had given to her.

               “Um.” The dark-haired woman gestured to her own umbrella, “I left my phone in the store and it seemed a little rude to beep, so I thought I’d knock…” she extended her arm and motioned to Kara, “but you can definitely keep a hold of it for now if you want.”

               With a tight-lipped smile, and an internal curse at her own confusion, the taller woman stepped out and followed the other to the car. Bending slightly at the height, so as not to end up with her hair tangled in the metal above, she watched as drops of water cascaded down the front panels. When she was back in the passenger seat, she watched as Lena carefully stepped around small puddles with a slight frown. Kara thought it was a bit odd for anyone to do that, let alone her boss, but even with the plummeting temperature outside, her heart grew a little warmer from the other woman’s kindness.

               Once they were back inside the store, which had warmed up considerably since they left it, Lena had moved to the back room, and set the electric kettle to boil, whilst Kara had taken the chairs and brought them to the counter. She sifted through the cupboards, looking for her favourite orange tea that was made locally in Midvale. Nodding to herself triumphantly, she added the bags to the separate mugs, and eventually poured the water into each of them. She returned to Kara and handed her one of the mugs.

               “Thank you.” Kara’s hands tightened around the mug, inhaling the pleasant, familiar scent of the tea. “Is this the one from the local farmers market?”

               “Yeah, it’s one of my favourite ones.” Lena smiled, making her dimples faintly visible, “Most people aren’t too fond of the idea of orange tea, and they have _no_ idea what they’re missing out on.”

               Kara took a small sip and slowly exhaled, “My mother used to get it all the time for me when I was younger, but we haven’t been there together in years.”

 

\---

 

               By the time they had finished their tea, and Kara had cleaned the mugs, it was two in the afternoon, but outside it resembled late evening. Kara paced absentmindedly through the store in an attempt to warm herself further, although she was far from cold. Each time she passed the counter, and Lena’s eyes flickered up, she was sure she would eventually wear another path through the already worn wooden floors.

               The blonde woman stopped when a small, radio caught her eyes. It was a little box of polished wood covered in small scratches, and two circular dials for tuning and adjusting the volume under the beige rectangular shaped speaker. She returned to Lena who was sitting on of the two metal chairs she had brought from the backroom to the counter, flicking through an interior design magazine, which Kara pretended not to notice the original inspiration for her own home. "God, I used to love these when I was younger." Kara grinned, fiddling with the little radio in her hands.

               Lena closed the magazine and set it on the counter. "Do you think you can get it working?" She asked, a slight sparkle in her eyes. She adored music when she was a child, her earliest memories of her mother singing and playing piano whilst she watched in awe always made her heart ache for some type of familiarity that she could no longer fully envision. It was the way that the songs somehow captured a feeling she couldn’t explain or transported her back to those simple moments. Hearing the traditional Irish songs when she would least expect it, sent Lena’s mind into a tailspin so she mostly avoided music at all costs, unless she was certain she wouldn’t be exposed to them.

               “Maybe… it’s pretty beat-up and Pye must at least be from the fifties or sixties.” Kara continued scrutinising and turned it over in her hands, “But the back doesn’t look like it’s seen a fire, so it might be okay.”

               “Another parting gift from the old owners,” Lena suggested dismissively.

               “I used to be here a lot of the time; I don’t remember seeing this.”

               “Do you want to plug it in somewhere?” Lena asked.

               “Unless I want to end up like a fried egg,” Kara pushed her glasses up, “not really.”

               “I’ve got a toolbox in the back room,” Lena offered. After she received a nod from Kara, she went to find the toolbox.

               Lena quickly returned, and with the other woman’s help, they heaved the metal toolbox onto the counter with an audible clatter of the contents. Kara unbuckled the toolbox. Her eyes roamed every item imaginable, from screwdrivers and drills, to digital measuring tools and even a small metal detector.

               “Oh, you’ve got a digital multimeter, too!” Kara grinned.

               Lena smirked, knowing exactly what Kara was talking about, although restoring an old radio was _slightly_ out of her own expertise. “Soldering irons, you name it, it’s there.”

               Kara unscrewed the back of the radio and placed it on the side. “We might need an isolation transformer.”

               “Okay-”

               “Wait, no. We don’t, we’re in luck, it’s not a hot chassis radio.”

               Lena slowly blinked, “Thanks for clarifying.”

               A tiny crease on Kara’s face appeared above her nose whilst she frowned and fiddled with the wires of the radio. She looked up and caught Lena watching her. “So, you’ve got to get rid of these tubes first to remove the chassis and access the wires, it’s kind of like their own little house.” Kara gestured with her hands, talking more so to herself than Lena, but the other woman listened intently regardless, “and then we’ve got to measure each of the three separate coils with the multimeter.” Kara removed the coils from the circuit and measured the voltages of each coil, once she was content with the numbers reaching the region of three ohms, she carefully soldered the stray wires back to their original places. Kara plugged in the radio and returned to the hectic maze of copper-coloured wires.

               Lena’s eyes widened watching Kara, “Wait, stop!” She exclaimed.

               Kara’s head snapped up and the tip of the screwdriver hit one of the wires. She dropped the screwdriver upon feeling the force of the electric shock when she instinctively drew her hand back. She looked down and flexed her fingers, “Shoot-“

               “I _tried_ to tell you,” Lena replied trying to stifle a laugh.

               The corner of the taller woman’s mouth curved upwards, “Well maybe you were right-”

               “The radio’s plugged in and that’s an exposed wire… whatever you do next, _please_ try not to end up like a fried egg in the store.”

               “I won’t,” Kara chuckled.

               Lena rested her head on her hand, “How did you learn all of this?”

               “Just my dad, he loved old cars, the lot.” Kara’s reminiscent smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly covered it. After soldering the exposed wire, the woman returned each component to its original place and screwed the back shut. She raised her eyebrows, “Do you want to try switching this on instead?”

               Lena nodded and plugged the radio in and turned the switch. With their arms folded on the counter, they both leaned closer to hear for any type of sound; a voice reading the headlines, or a melodic tune from some distant station. When they were sure they would hear neither, Kara fiddled with the dials of the radio, hearing static; she turned it clockwise.

               “There! Did you hear that?” Lena quizzed. She leaned closer, turning her head so her ear was nearer the speaker, “Try turning it the other way.”

               Kara followed Lena’s instructions as they traversed through stations of further muffled voices until the blonde turned the dial anti-clockwise and was met by a deep bass and the sounds of a saxophone which she instantly recognised as Marvin Gaye’s _Let’s Get It On_. Lena grinned and gave Kara a quick high-five, and they settled next to each other on the metal chairs.

               A smile grew on Lena’s face once she realised which song was playing, “Oh my god-” she snorted and covered her face with her hands. “ _Great_ song choice.”

               “I mean-” Kara momentarily squeezed her eyes shut. She eased them open and raised her eyebrows, “he is a _great_ singer?”

               Lena buried her head back into the interior design magazine, “I can’t take this seriously, sorry.”

               They sat in silence waiting for the song to finish, which took at least five minutes, after neither of them dared to turn the dial in case they lost the only station they had managed to find and Kara realised they were playing the full version of the song.

               Once it _eventually_ finished, Kara turned to the other woman. “Fun fact for you,” she patted the top of the radio creating a hollow knocking sound, “this was probably made in Ireland.”

               “Really?” Lena frowned upon the mention of a distant memory that felt like a whole other lifetime, _Ireland_.

               Kara beamed, “I don’t think there were many imports and exports back then, but it’s a definitely a marvel in its own right since it still works.”

               The brunette nodded, “I see. I certainly like it, it adds a bit of charm, and it’s better than the silence or echoes of the rain at this time of year.”

               With the radio playing old, surprisingly familiar songs of yesteryears, and the occasional roar of thunder filling the odd moment of silence, the women talked of Midvale for the remainder of the afternoon, and their favourite places for coffee and takeaways both early in the morning and late at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea how radios work and i tried watching a ton of videos but clearly none of them helped and i would probably end up as a fried egg so here we are with the obligatory 'don't try this at home'
> 
> come say hi on twitter or tumblr if you like! i'm @outislanders on both


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